The Story Of How I, A Gloomy Guy, Ended Up Surrounded By the Top-Tier Beautiful Girls In Class After A Seat Change

Chapter 21:

— The next morning.

Walking under the gloomy overcast sky, I headed to school early, aiming for where she usually is.

I aim to meet Kanade Tanaka, a fellow otaku friend from middle school.

“Tanaka always arrives early in the morning and hangs out in front of HR, right…?”

Kanade Tanaka is an otaku like me, a fellow introvert. Shorter than most, she hides her eyes behind long bangs and speaks softly in front of extroverts. However, she can chatter away like a stand-up comedian when we talk about otaku stuff…

Like Kuroki, she also attended the same middle school as me, and academically, she’s as smart as Rui Kuroki.

When I decided to attend this high school, we often studied together.

Tanaka and I were both introverts and in the same class for all three years of junior high school, and we were close enough to talk casually about our hobbies.

But since entering high school, we’ve been in different classes for two consecutive years, so our conversations have inevitably decreased.

“Alright, I’ve arrived.”

The rooftop is surrounded by wire mesh.

It’s a popular spot during lunch break, but in the morning, it’s deserted, making it an ideal place for introverts.

I climbed up to the top of the rooftop’s tower using a ladder.

(It feels like it’s been a while since I came here…)

“…Yo, Tanaka.”

“Huh?”

On top of the tower, a petite female student was sitting, playing with her smartphone.

At first, she looked surprised, but then she gradually broke into a grin.

“Ohhh, Ryota-kun, long time no see!”

“Don’t start with ‘ohh’ right away, Tanaka.”

“Oh, ‘ohh’… I-I didn’t mean to do that…”

She wore red-rimmed glasses hidden under her bangs.

Despite her small stature, she had bought oversized uniform sleeves, perhaps expecting to grow (or show off), making them baggy even in her second year.

She looks like a loli girl on the outside, but inside, she’s an otaku.

“Long time no see, Ryota-kun.”

“Yeah. It’s been a while, Tanaka.”

Kanade Tanaka—she’s my only otaku friend.

Now, let’s get down to business.

—

Chapter 22:

I arrived at the rooftop tower where Kanade Tanaka, the bespectacled anime geek, was. Sitting side to side, we looked up at the sky.

“Looks cloudy today, Ryota-kun.”

“Yeah. Looks like it might rain in the afternoon.”

“Really?”

It was still only 7:30 AM. There was an hour until the morning homeroom, so I just relaxed with Tanaka….!

“That’s not right!”

“Ah! Why are you yelling all of a sudden? Are you emotionally unstable?”

“No, that’s not it! I didn’t come here to chat casually like an old married couple with you!”

“Old married couple? Ryota-kun, the otaku introvert, is getting married. That sounds tough.”

“You’re an otaku introvert too!”

Tanaka stuck out her tongue. She’s more of an otaku and introvert than I am. She’s the number one introvert, skipping morning class to kill time up here.

“Alright, enough joking around. What do you need?”

Tanaka is easy to talk to, so I naturally lose any tension.

“Actually, um…”

“Hmm?”

Tanaka tilted her head, adjusting her bangs.

“I-I’m not exaggerating, but everything I’m about to say is true.”

“You’re making a big deal out of this.”

I’m not trying to make a big deal out of it.

(I can’t expect anyone to believe I befriended all the beautiful girls in my class in just one week, so I’m emphasizing it.)

“There’s a group of girls in my class: Ichinose, Miyama, and Kuroki, right? They were in the same class as you last year.”

“Oh, the three beautiful girls who have nothing to do with me. By the way, weren’t they in the same class as Ryota-kun this year?”

“Y-yeah, that’s right.”

“We introverted otakus will never interact with those three, right? So, did they insult you or something?”

That’s what you’d naturally think. But it’s different, Tanaka.

“Well, actually… I ended up becoming good friends with those three.”

“Wh-what?”

Tanaka looked surprised, as expected. She took off her red-rimmed glasses, wiped them on her uniform, and put them back on.

“You’re saying you got along with the trio of beautiful girls? Ryota-kun?”

“Yeah, you can think it’s a lie if you want. It all started when we got new seats, and they surrounded me. We somehow hit it off after that.”

“Huh?!”

Tanaka made a puzzled face as if she had something strange in her mouth.

“Um, may I ask something? Has Ryota-kun’s delusions gotten worse recently?”

“You still don’t believe me!”

“I mean, it’s unbelievable! How could Ryota-kun, who was on track to be a lifelong virgin and a magic-using NEET, get along with such glamorous girls?”

This girl’s impression of me is really bad… I’d be better off with a complete stranger.

“Could it be that Ryota-kun is being threatened by those three? Are they making you pay for things, stealing from you, or sending you weird stuff!?”

She seems to have misunderstood things in a bad direction. I treated Miyama to curry, Ichinose took my UFO catcher prize (I gave it to her), and Kuroki sent me some weird stuff.

“Anyway! I can’t go into details, but I did become friends with them! You have to believe that much since we’re friends!”

“Okay, Ryota-kun… I understand. I’ll believe you for now, so please continue.”

With a half-doubtful expression, Tanaka nodded slightly.

But, she was the one who got completely sidetracked.

“So, there’s also Kuroki, who went to the same middle school as us, right? Apparently all the boys in the middle school confessed to her.”

“Oh, that story? It was rumored that Ryota-kun was the only one who didn’t confess back then.”

“Ru-rumor?!”

That’s news to me.

“How does anyone know I was the only one who didn’t confess? Did you ask every boy in the class whether they confessed to Kuroki?”

“You don’t know, right, Ryota-kun?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There was a certain ‘rule’ among the girls the same age as Kuroki in middle school.”