The Protagonist's Sister Loves Me, But She's Definitely a Yandere. - Chapter 01: A Scene in the Morning

Act 1: A Mysterious Stalker

Chapter 01: A Scene in the Morning

I guess I have terrible luck. Like, really terrible.

The boy who lives next door is ridiculously good-looking. He’s the kind of popular guy who shines naturally. And of course, he has a harem of girls who always surround him. I’ve had to watch this scene play out since we were little.

Because we live close to each other, I was forced to be his friend.

They call it the “best friend” role or something, but I’d love to return the position.

Athletic, handsome, smart, great social skills —this guy was born with all the talents. Being his best friend just makes me feel pathetic.

If he had a rotten personality, things would’ve been easier. I could’ve just come up with a reason to keep my distance. But no, he even has a sunny, good-guy personality. If I tried to stop hanging out with him, he’d probably use his endless kindness to stop me.

I’ve been compared to him forever. In sports, in grades, even in looks.

Every time, people’s reactions were like, “Oh, uh…” or “Haha…” —just awkward. They expect things from me because I’m his best friend, then get disappointed all on their own.

It’s so unfair. There’s no other explanation —I’m just unlucky.

“…Huh?”

This happened about a month after the opening ceremony.

The cherry blossoms had fully bloomed and scattered, making way for fresh green leaves.

When I arrived at school, I found a rectangular object stuffed into my shoe locker.

“?!”

I did a double-take. After quickly checking my surroundings, I carefully pulled out that rectangular object. It wasn’t thick, but it felt strangely heavy.

It was about the size of my palm, and the color was neon pink.

A love letter. No doubt about it. My heart thumped loudly in my chest.

A love letter? For me? No way, that couldn’t be true. But the reality was that I was holding an actual letter in my hand. I almost jumped in excitement. My face was about to break into a grin.

And why wouldn’t I be happy? I’ve never been confessed to in my entire life.

Of course, I’d never received a love letter before either. I’d handled tons of requests to deliver letters to Mr. Popular or to help someone get closer to him. But for me? Never.

“W-Who would give me this?”

I muttered in a raspy voice. Honestly, I didn’t care who it was.

Not that I was trying to be a jerk. What I meant was, any girl who looked at me and had feelings for me was an angel, so I’d be happy no matter who it was.

Over more than ten long years, every single romance event had centered around him.

“Hey, Shinji. You’re in a good mood this morning.”

“Geh!? Hinata?!”

I jumped a little when someone suddenly called out to me.

Panicking, I hid the love letter behind my back and glanced over.

Standing there was none other than the person in question —Hinata Ichinose, radiating that sparkling aura of his. He was as annoyingly good-looking as ever.

His light brown hair reflected the sunlight, and his smile looked like it came straight out of a manga. He was about the same height as me, but his long legs made his proportions look ridiculously good.

“‘Geh’ is kinda rude, you know… Why do you look so annoyed?”

“I-I’m not! The world is happy! I’m thrilled!”

“…Now I’m actually worried about you. You okay?”

Crap, I guess my feelings showed on my face.

Let me say this first — I don’t hate Hinata. If I had to describe it, he just makes me uncomfortable. The more I hang out with him, the more pathetic I feel about myself. But I knew it’d be childish to take that frustration out on him.

What really bothered me was Hinata’s personality. I don’t know if he realizes how popular he is, but he loves getting involved in other people’s relationships. Especially when it comes to romance —he gets way too invested. And the worst part? When people ask for his advice, they usually end up succeeding. He’s like a real-life Cupid, and his insane social skills back it up.

But I hate standing out, especially when it has anything to do with Hinata.

There’s a chance that whoever sent me this love letter feels the same way. To protect both my values and the sender’s feelings, I decided I couldn’t let this letter be exposed.

“Hey, you’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

“I’m not hiding anything. I’ve just taken up yoga.”

“I never thought I’d hear the word ‘yoga’ from my best friend… Hmm, suspicious. Oh, wait —did you get a love letter or something!?”

He hit the nail right on the head. Hinata’s guess was spot-on. But I couldn’t let him find out.

My brain went into overdrive trying to figure out how to escape from him as he inched closer.

No brilliant ideas came to mind. I was about to just run for it when—

“Hey, Hii-kun, wait up! You’re too fast!”

“Oh, sorry, Rika! I just got curious because Shinji looked like he was dancing!”

“What’s that about? Oh, good morning, Shinji-kun! Oh, by the way—”

Running up to us was Rika Sakuragi, Hinata’s childhood friend.

Seriously, even their last names scream “popular kid.” Life is so unfair.

Anyway, she was definitely part of Hinata’s harem.

Hinata and Rika were childhood friends. Technically, I was, too.

When we were kids, the three of us played together a lot, but around middle school, Rika started hanging out more with Hinata. I kinda figured out why, so I quietly stepped back.

Her black hair reached her shoulders, and her gentle way of speaking made her really popular with the guys. Obviously, she was a total beauty. After giving me a quick greeting, she turned her attention to Hinata.

I ended up standing there alone, but at least Hinata’s questioning stopped.

Ignoring Hinata’s curious expression, I started walking away.

I checked my phone —there was still time before homeroom. I needed to read the letter now. Who knew how many more chances I’d get to dodge Hinata’s questions today?