The Issue of Why I'm Frequently Mentioned in Conversations Among S-Class Beauties ~Please Stop Fabricating Things I Have No Memory Of~ (Dropped) - Chapter 22: Encounter with the S-class Beauty (Yuna) ①

Chapter 22: Encounter with the S-class Beauty (Yuna) ①

“Phew, another day finally ended,” Haruya sighed as the sluggish class finally came to an end, and the classroom filled with the lively voices of students. Yuki sent words of encouragement to Haruya, who had pretended to sleep and kept his face down.

“Yeah,” Haruya replied monotonously, not having much to say in particular.

He noticed Yuki grinning with his white teeth showing, and it seemed that the words of encouragement were just a formality before he got to the main point. 

Haruya was somewhat insensitive, but strangely sharp when it came to Yuki. Perhaps it was because Yuki had an easily understandable personality, and Haruya had a vague sense of what Yuki was going to talk about next.

“…Akasaki, you see.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know, that topic again,” Haruya interrupted, anticipating what Yuki was going to say.

“But I haven’t said anything yet!?”

Sighing, Haruya replied, “It’s about that girl, right?”

“That girl” referred to Yuna Takamori, one of the “S-Class Beauties.” Yuki had frequently brought up that topic to Haruya recently, to the point where Haruya was getting fed up with it.

“Well, yeah… but today, I realized throughout the day that Takamori-san is definitely in love…”

“Well, that’s good for her. Maybe it’s a chance for you,” Haruya responded dismissively.

“No, there’s no way I could be her crush, right? It’s probably someone like Aira or someone else. Lately, the behavior of the untouchable S-Class Beauties has been strange, so I thought I’d share it with Akasaki,” Yuki continued, relentlessly in spite of Haruya’s annoyance.

No matter how many times he tried to show disinterest, Yuki would never stop talking to him.

“Well, I’ll listen to it at least,” Haruya sighed, conceding to Yuki’s persistent talk.

“Yeah, do that… It’s essential information so you can get along with the boys in class,” Yuki replied, striking a pose with a thumbs-up. However, Haruya had no intention of expanding his circle of friends.

After all, Haruya upheld the belief that he was more at ease when he was alone. Although recently he had come to realize that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to have “friends” to share hobbies with. When Haruya nodded and shook his head vertically, Yuki averted his gaze and wore an apologetic expression.

“Sorry… It looks like I’ve been called by another friend,” Yuki said as he was called by a male classmate. Although Haruya and Yuki had started to interact more frequently lately, they hadn’t yet built a close friendship.

Haruya nodded, signaling Yuki to go without worrying about it, and watched him walk away.

(…I don’t even know who that S-class beauty is, and I have no reason to get involved with them. Why does Yuki always seem so interested in that kind of topic?)

As Haruya questioned the information source that the guys in his classroom were flocking to, he reluctantly began to prepare to go home, feeling lethargic.

♦︎♢♦︎

As Haruya walked home alone after school, a sudden realization struck him, causing him to dutifully turn back on his way.

(…Oh right, my hair wax is running low.)

One of Haruya’s daily essentials was running out, and he remembered that the drugstore near his high school carried the brand he liked. Going back home and then heading out to buy it would be quite inconvenient.

Though it wasn’t a pressing need, the feeling of unease in his chest lingered after noticing the shortage of hair wax, and he knew he wouldn’t feel at ease until he had a new one.

(…But it’s not a good idea to go shopping like this.)

Haruya’s dilemma was clear. If he went to buy wax looking the way he currently did, he would surely be mocked by his classmates, especially Yuki. After all, the drugstore was located near their high school, and there was a good chance he would run into classmates who knew him.

(Guess I’ll have to tidy up my hair in a simple way… and put on earrings.)

He quickly glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then carefully combed his hair to resemble his usual appearance when going out. After confirming his somewhat satisfactory appearance in a small hand mirror, Haruya gained some confidence and set off towards the drugstore.

“Alright, with this, even if I run into someone from the same high school, they won’t recognize me as Haruya Akasaki,” he muttered to himself with a smirk on his lips as he headed to the drugstore alone.

Little did he know that he would encounter one of the S-class beauties, Yuna Takamori, again after this. 

As events unfolded, Haruya would gradually begin to feel a sense of discomfort, but at this moment, he had no inkling of what was to come.

Yuna.