The Day After I Told My Shut-In Genius Childhood Friend, Who’s Highly Dependent on Me, “I Got Confessed To,” She Showed Me a Hypnosis App

At school, I’m pretty busy most of the time.

“Hey, class president!”

As soon as I arrived in the classroom today, a teacher in the hallway waved me over.

“…Um, do you need me to bring you more handouts again?”

“You got it! Come to the materials room before the second period!”

“…Um! I’ll be there!”

“I’m sorry to bother you! Thank you for always helping out!”

I gave a small smile. Being the class president means I get a lot of odd jobs from the teachers.

And that’s not all.

“Hey, hey, you’re in the student council too?”

A girl in my class tapped my shoulder from the side.

“Hm? That’s right.”

“I want to submit a request for our club’s display in the classroom…”

“…I see. Then, I’ll grab the form from the student council room for you.”

“Really? Thank you so much, class president!”

See, there’s also student council work.

Since I’m both class president and in the student council, people ask me for all sorts of favors.

(I have a lot to do as usual.)

I let out a small sigh and gave a weak smile.

It’s not like I want high grades or to be a leader or anything. I usually just wait until someone actually wants to do these jobs.

So why am I doing all this trouble, then…

I looked at the back row by the window.

An empty seat.

It’s supposed to be for a certain genius shut-in childhood friend.

(Probably no one really notices…)

By chance, Mio is in the same class as me.

If that’s the case, I can’t just space out.

(People will probably figure out we’re childhood friends right away…)

If Mio suddenly shows up, I want to be nearby unless she avoids me. That way, everyone notices that we’re childhood friends.

And if that happens, it’s better for me to be seen as the helpful class president and student council member rather than some unnoticed loner. That good impression probably helps how people see Mio, too.

So, I do what I can as her childhood friend.

(…Looks like I have a little time before homeroom.)

And the best way to deal with this kind of work is to finish it before it gets annoying.

Since I had some time, I quickly went to the student council room and grabbed the request form I’d been asked to get.

“Here, this is the form you asked for.”

“That was fast! You’re a lifesaver!”

“Then, I’ll see you after you fill it out…”

“Ah, wait! I’m filling it out now!”

She told me to wait, so I stopped walking… I’m terrible at talking to girls I’m not used to, so I was about to step back.

I’m not sure if she noticed my awkwardness, but she looked up while moving her pen.

“Class president, it’s not really a thank-you, but do you want me to tell you a rumor that’s been going around lately?”

“A rumor?”

“If you like someone, apparently, ―‘if you set your crush as your phone’s lock screen and they don’t notice for three days, your love will come true.’”

“Hm, I’ve never heard that before.”

So that’s the kind of rumor going around. Love charms like that might have been popular back in middle school. Seems like high school isn’t any different.

“You should try it too, class president? Just not with me.”

“…”

“All done! Thank you!”

She handed me the completed form with a bright smile.

…Huh? Did I get rejected even though I didn’t do anything?

◇

After handling all those small tasks, lunchtime finally came.

I grabbed my lunch box and headed up to the rooftop.

I usually eat lunch up here. I don’t want anyone remembering something they need to ask me just because they see my face.

As I climbed the stairs, I thought about the rumor I heard this morning.

(If you set your crush as your phone’s lock screen and they don’t notice for three days, your love will come true…?)

Honestly, it sounds kind of tricky.

First, getting a photo is hard. How do you get one with just the person you like in it?

Would a group photo work? But if you cut out just their part and some other people accidentally get included, it could be a disaster. A random harem might appear out of nowhere.

(…Well, I guess I’ll pass for now.)

Lost in these useless thoughts, I sat down in my usual spot under the water tower. Just then,

“Honamin, good job today!”

A bright voice called out, and a girl plopped down next to me, bumping her shoulder against mine.

“Whoa!”

I turned around as I was surprised and saw a girl with a cheerful smile.

“Don’t scare me like that…”

“Hehe. Sorry, sorry. You didn’t notice I was right behind you.”

She pressed her hands together apologetically.

She’s one of the few friends I’ve actually made in high school.

“Is this about some favor? —Momose-san.”

Momose Nanaka, my classmate.

Brightly dyed hair. A slightly loosened uniform, just within school rules.

She’s always smiling, friendly to everyone, and stands out in class. A cheerful, easygoing girl who’s popular with everyone.

Why am I chatting with Momose-san like this…

“It’s not a favor, Honamin. Did you watch it yesterday?”

“Yesterday?”

“That’s right, yesterday ―The latest episode of ‘Prikle’!”

“Ah…!”

I nodded deeply. The anime that brought me closer to Momose was “The Magical Girl Prism☆Sparkle,” nicknamed “Prikle.”

I love it too and watch it every week as it airs.

Mio originally liked it, but watching it together got me hooked, too.

I unfortunately hadn’t watched it yesterday.

“…I’m sorry, I didn’t watch it because of exams.”

I knew the latest episode was yesterday, but I was holding back for exam season. Anime takes up too much time.

Momose-san tilted her head.

“Eh? You can still watch it during exams?”

“It’s fine… but if I start, I’ll want to watch all the other episodes too, and I’ll lose time.”

“I watched all the episodes yesterday, though?”

“All of them!?”

There are already like thirty episodes?

“Studying… makes you want a little break, right?”

“That’s not really just a little break, though?”

Momose-san had completely blanked out during the last test, staring off into space. I wonder if she’s really okay.

“It’s fine! I’ll study bit by bit!”

“The tests start this week, by the way.”

“…”

Ah, she froze.

“…If you hadn’t said anything, the deadline might have been extended.”

“It wouldn’t have been.”

Test periods aren’t something that can just be postponed.

I laughed a little, and Momose-san’s shoulders drooped just slightly.

“But Honamin hasn’t watched it yet. That’s too bad.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll watch it next time.”

“It’s okay! Really! I’m just happy that someone in our class watches Prikle. If I told the others, they’d probably tease me…”

Momose-san said it in a quiet voice.

Prikle is technically a kids’ anime. People who don’t understand it might tease you for still watching it. And, in fact, some classmates did.

Momose-san isn’t really an otaku, but she happened to get hooked on Prikle and watches it with a lot of passion. Having someone at school to share that excitement with makes her happy.

“If you hadn’t been there back then…”

“Hm?”

“Ah, no, no! Nothing! Forget it!”

She waved her hands frantically, her face turning red.

At that exact moment, Momose-san’s phone slipped out of her uniform pocket.

“Ah.”

It fell to the ground, and the screen lit up. I couldn’t help but see it.

For some reason, my face was staring back at me on her lock screen.

Huh?

My… face?

“Eh?”

“―Gasp!”

In a blur, Momose-san dove for the phone before it could hit the ground.

But in that split second, the image was burned into my eyes.

My side profile was clearly caught off guard by the camera. A photo that must have been taken without me noticing.

(Th-That was… my face… right…?)

And then, the rumor I’d just heard popped into my mind, “If you set your crush as your phone’s lock screen and they don’t notice for three days, your love will come true.”

Momose-san turned to me and her ears were bright red.

“D-Did you see it?”

…I awkwardly looked away.

“…I-I didn’t see… all of it.”

“You totally saw it!”

She held the phone on the floor, spinning her eyes around in frustration.

“…Th-this is the worst… I should’ve just left my phone behind…!”

I froze, my hand half-stretched out, and I was unable to say a word… Should I have tried harder to cover it up? No, that would’ve only made things worse. My acting skills aren’t good enough; I’d just make it even more awkward.

At least, other students on the rooftop didn’t notice… Well, except the most important one did, so that’s not much of a relief.

“…I-I guess it can’t be helped now… It’s not like the spell fails if you see it…!”

She sat back down next to me as she was still blushing.

“Okay, so… I’ll explain, Honamin…”

S-She’s explaining it.

What kind of face am I supposed to make? My heart’s been racing non-stop since a moment ago.

“…As you probably guessed, I changed my phone’s lock screen because of that rumor about if you set your crush as your phone’s lock screen and they don’t notice for three days, your love will come true.”

“Y-yes.”

“…”

The silence is painfully awkward.

Momose-san took a deep breath.

“…Honamin, do you have a girlfriend right now?”

“N-No.”

“…Good. I guess that’s lucky.”

My head is spinning from this totally unexpected turn.

She said it’s good that I don’t have a girlfriend. I mean… there’s a love rumor, and she set my face as her lock screen.

“Then, well… I was going to tell you eventually anyway?”

Wait, that means?

No need to say it aloud.