Vol 1 Chapter 0 – Prologue: He Lent Her His Shower 【Volume 1: The Road to Romance】

“…Don’t look.”

“That’s a bit hard to ask, considering you’ve just stepped directly into a drainage ditch.”

“I didn’t mean to step in it! Ugh, the worst! My uniform is splattered with filth! …I have work in a bit. I can’t show up looking like this.”

“…Work? What time?”

“…Five o’clock.”

“You’ve got an hour and a half. Why not just run home first?”

“My house is an hour away by train. I’ll never make it.”

“Fair enough. That won’t work then. Let me think… Could you come over to mine? It’s just around the corner. I don’t mind lending you the shower.”

That was the first time Sandai Fujiwara had ever spoken a word to Shino Yuizaki — the moment he spotted her standing on the sidewalk after school, one foot swallowed whole by a drainage ditch.

At Sandai’s high school, there was a girl people talked about. A gal with looks that were, by any measure, rare — the kind of face that made people stop and stare.

Her name was Shino Yuizaki.

And by some strange twist of fate, this same Shino — who could turn heads without trying — sat in the desk directly behind his.

Not that it had ever meant anything. Not once in their shared school life had they exchanged a single word. When passing handouts back, they did so in silence. Not even a glance.

Sandai was, by most accounts, ordinary. His hobbies leaned nerdy. In class, he sat firmly at the bottom of the social ladder — friendless, invisible.

Shino, on the other hand, was a beautiful gal, and that alone put her near the top.

By any logic, their lives were never meant to intersect. That had been the reality up until now. The silence between them wasn’t awkward — it was simply two people from different worlds, each staying in their lane.

And yet.

He was surprised at himself for speaking up. And just as surprised when Shino answered with a quiet, “…Okay. Thanks,” and actually took him up on it.

(This is just a coincidence. It has to be.)

He decided, given how unbelievable all of it was, to leave it at that and not think too hard. He’d lend her the shower, she’d leave, and that would be the end of it. Nothing more, nothing less.

☆

“Thanks for the shower. That felt amazing~”

Shino stepped out of the changing room and changed into a loose, oversized outfit.

Since walking to her shift still wearing a dirty uniform wasn’t exactly an option, Sandai had offered her something of his to change into for the time being.

“Take that paper bag too — stuff your uniform in it. If you drop it off at an express cleaner on the way to work, it’ll be ready to pick up on your way home.”

“You’re literally a god.”

“Noted. Well then — goodbye.”

“Why are you so cold about it? …Oh, I get it!” She tilted her head with a knowing smirk. “You’re worried about your parents coming home, aren’t you? Walking in on a girl here, thinking the worst? They’re out — shopping or work — and about to be back any minute, right?”

Sandai exhaled slowly. “…My parents aren’t coming home. I live alone.”

He’d moved into an apartment the same time he started high school. Shino’s theory was completely off the mark.

She’d obviously been trying to tease him. It landed with zero effect.

He shrugged, silently declaring himself unscathed. Shino’s lips pressed into a pout.

She clearly wasn’t satisfied. But just as quickly, something new seemed to spark behind her eyes, and a sly grin spread across her face.

“…Living alone, huh. That’s impressive. But wait — does that mean there could be, like, dirty magazines everywhere? No parents to catch you, so you could collect as many as you want, right?”

She started casually nosing around the apartment without permission.

He didn’t exactly have a collection of that kind of material. But being searched without warning still felt deeply unwelcome.

Sandai moved quickly, planting both hands on her back and steering her firmly toward the front door.

“W-wait, why are you panicking like that? Don’t tell me…”

“There’s a mountain of manga, but no matter how long you look, you won’t find anything else. More to the point — you’ve already showered, which was the point of coming. You got what you needed. Goodbye.”

“You don’t have to push me out like this. Geez~”

“What do you mean, ‘geez.’ Are you a cow now? Easy there.”

He guided her out the door without another word and locked it the moment it clicked shut.

Different worlds. Different values, different everything — he was more certain of that now than ever.

(Fine. From tomorrow, it’ll go back to how it always was. Not a word between us. That’ll be the end of it.)

That was what Sandai believed.

As it turned out, the world had other plans.

Things moved in a direction he hadn’t quite expected.

☆

The next day.

Sandai became the target of every pair of eyes in the classroom — all at once.

The cause was Shino.

“Returning the clothes I borrowed yesterday! Oh, and I work at a café — we make sweets there, so I brought you some as a thank-you!”

She said it out loud, in front of everyone, without a trace of hesitation, and held out the folded clothes and a small bag of pastries.

The entire class — boys and girls alike — erupted into whispers.

Sandai didn’t mind getting his things back. That wasn’t the issue.

The issue was timing and location, and he was now deeply, acutely uncomfortable.

(Is she… actually trying to mess with me? In the most roundabout way possible?)

He had absolutely no idea what to make of any of this.