The Story Of How I, A Gloomy Guy, Ended Up Surrounded By the Top-Tier Beautiful Girls In Class After A Seat Change - Chapter 26-27

Chapter 26:

The Snow Top nearest to our high school, affectionately called “Sno-To” by its mainly female student patrons, is always popular.

With its calm exterior and inside, glamorous high school girls (JKs) abound.

There are no introverted otaku girls like Tanaka who only go to collaboration cafes, nor are there any loner introverts like me.

(Can a quiet otaku like me come to a place like this?)

Ah, I feel out of place here.

“Airi will have the matcha and peach frappuccino and Ryota?”

“Huh? Um…”

“Is matcha and melon frappuccino okay?”

“Uh, um, oh, yes, yes!”

“Hey, why are you so nervous?”

I had been acting suspiciously since entering, and even during ordering, I was stiff next to Miyama.

“Will matcha and peach frappuccino and matcha and melon frappuccino be alright?”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

I was stiff, but thanks to Miyama, we managed to place our order, and I paid.

(Snow Top is away territory for introverts like me. It’s like crossing into enemy lines.)

“Ryota, are you nervous at Snow Top?”

“Miyama doesn’t know introverts at all! There are only extroverts here; it’s a nightmare for introverts!”

“Huh? I don’t get introverts or extroverts, Ryota.”

Sigh… That’s why aristocratic girls are like this.

“If Airi is extroverted, then Ryota is too! Ryota and Airi are good friends!”

“No, I’m introverted.”

“Why not?!”

Our frappuccinos arrived on trays at the pickup counter as we had that conversation.

I carried the tray and looked for a seat with Miyama.

Naturally, as we looked for a seat, the girls from our high school around us started staring at us.

“Isn’t that Airi-chan?”

“Yeah, could it be a date with her boyfriend? Surprisingly, her boyfriend isn’t that handsome.”

“Ohh, my Airi-tan… haa haa…”

I’m used to this whispering gossip, but I wish they wouldn’t mistake me for her boyfriend.

“Let’s sit here, Ryota?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Miyama chose a two-seat by the window.

I placed the tray on the table and sat opposite Miyama.

“Let’s dig in.”

Miyama held her frappuccino cup with both hands and happily slurped away.

I wonder if it tastes that good.

(There’s so much whipped cream it looks like it’s about to overflow, and with melon pulp and matcha, it’s ridiculously green… It seems dangerously unhealthy…)

“Hey, it seems like the girls around here think Ryota is Airi’s boyfriend.”

“Yeah, seems like it.”

“I’ve never had a boyfriend, so I don’t know. But with this distance, does it look like Airi and Ryota are dating?”

There’s no way it looks like that normally… is what I want to say, but onlookers always love to make a fuss.

Ultimately, those around us just want to gossip and create rumors. So, they want to pretend that an introvert like me is her boyfriend so that they can giggle about it.

Even if I were more unattractive and mismatched with Miyama, they would still think I was her boyfriend.

“Come to think of it, Miyama didn’t have a boyfriend, huh?”

“Of course not! The ‘boyfriend’ setup is to hide my part-time job!”

Considering Miyama’s profile, it would be normal if she had a boyfriend, so I’ve never been able to determine if it’s true.

To tell such a blatant lie, she must not want her part-time job known…

“This morning, when you said ‘Yota’ in front of Kuroki, my heart froze.”

“Oh, that? At that moment, Rui-chan asked me about my boyfriend’s name, got scared stiff, and ‘Yota’ just came out.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Airi doesn’t even know! Anyway! Speaking of Rui-chan, we have to talk about that thing!”

“That thing?”

“The ‘good thing’!”

Right. Amid the tension at Snow Top, I almost forgot, but we must talk about that ‘good thing’.

Miyama temporarily sets down her frappuccino and takes her smartphone from her school bag.

“Airi wants Rui-chan to get along with Ryota too!”

“Y-yeah…”

“And if Rui-chan is interested, I think it’s important that you guys comminicate first!”

“Communicate…”

“Yeah, that’s it!”

The air suddenly feels foolish.

But wait, communication? What does that mean?

“And so! The ‘good thing’ that Airi came up with is ta-da! ‘Lime Comminication Operation’!”

“It’s not ‘comminication,’ it’s ‘communication’… Wait what!?”

Miyama announced while opening the Lime app on her smartphone.

(Did she say ‘Lime Communication Operation’!?)

“With lime, Ryota and Rui-chan can talk easily, right? First, let’s get along on lime, then gradually in real life too!”

“O-okay…”

Absolutely impossible, and above all, the real issue is…

“Anyway, let’s try with exchanging lime accounts first!”

The fact that I’ve already exchanged accounts with Kuroki is a problem. Still, more importantly, it’s the chat history between me and Kuroki.

(Besides having already exchanged limes, in the chat history between me and Kuroki… there are… her erotic selfies!)

“S-so, Ryota, take out your smartphone!”

If Miyama sees those pictures… I’m definitely… finished!

—

Chapter 27:

“I sent Rui-chan’s Lime ID to you~! Add her as a friend and start talking right away~.”

Miyama completely misunderstands.

What Kuroki directs towards me is not affection but simply her desire to maintain perfectionism.

As evidence, Kuroki sent me a selfie of her belly button area, desperately trying to make me interested in her.

(If Miyama sees that belly button selfie, it’ll be the end of everything… I have to steer this conversation somehow away now.)

“Ryota, what’s wrong? Come on, try talking to Rui-chan on Lime!”

Airi Miyama is simply an airhead.

Even in part-time work.

She easily tells shortsighted lies like having a boyfriend, which is bound to get exposed, and she’s bad at covering up those lies.

Besides, there’s no way things will progress between a guy and a girl just by chatting on Lime!

(If it’s come to this…!)

“Okay, Miyama, got it. I’ll communicate with Kuroki again sometime!”

‘Sometime’… This phrase is commonly used not only in daily life but also in otaku circles.

It’s a pattern often seen among otaku, who say they’ll watch an anime or check out a character ‘sometime,’ and it never happens… regardless of how strongly recommended it is by other otaku.

(Alright, if I can just smoothly let this conversation fade away—)

“Eh! Do it now!”

Today, Miyama is uncharacteristically persistent.

Ugh, what a hassle…

(What should I do? If I don’t handle this well, Miyama will see the chat between me and Kuroki!)

If something like that happens…

“—Eh? Ryota, what’s this?”

“T-that’s not it, Miyama!”

“Could you have received a photo from Rui-chan, and you’ve been… doing that every night with her photo? Gross. Stay away from me, you perv! A creepy otaku!”

It’ll turn into that!

If such innocent Miyama says that… I’ll become a shut-in due to the shock.

(To avoid that, I need to think now. How can I get through this situation without Miyama seeing Kuroki’s belly button selfie…)

“R-right…! Isn’t Kuroki in club activities right now?”

“Oh, right. Rui-chan might be at club activities.”

“D-doing Lime during club activities would be annoying. So, let’s do Lime again ‘sometime’.”

“Eh, but—”

“Don’t worry! I’ll send proof of our conversation later! So, how about doing it ‘sometime’ later?”

“Well, that’s true. Rui-chan did mention the upcoming tournament.”

Miyama finally understands.

It would’ve been game over if Kuroki wasn’t at track practice.

I sip my Frappuccino in relief.