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

Chapter 44:

“The role of the prince is me… and Rui will share the double casting with me. We discussed various things, but it was decided that only the role of the prince would be split between morning and afternoon,” Yuria announced.

Upon hearing this announcement from Yuria, the class was engulfed in a whirl of astonishment and confusion, yet not a single boy complained.

Just like the gender-reversed Snow White, it might be natural not to speak up against Rui, as it could go against her wishes.

But of course, nobody had expected this outcome, so gradually, the boys’ attention turned towards me.

“I’m so jealous.”

“Is she planning to get close to the other two as well?”

“What’s up with her luck, seriously?”

Such envious and jealous glances again… Instead of murmuring about it quietly, I should have seized the chance to be the partner of two beautiful girls, but it ended up in the hands of an introvert like me.

If my life were a comedy, this would probably be the ultimate comedic point… But whether this situation makes me happy is another question.

(I’m happy to have gotten to know them better than girls I’ve never spoken to before. But Yuria and Rui…)

Glancing suddenly to my right, Rui was staring solemnly at the blackboard the whole time.

I thought she would be smiling to have gotten the lead role, but she seemed unexpectedly displeased.

(Was there something during the casting decision?)

If there was any discord between Yuria and Rui… I’m curious.

“Well then, Izumiya will play Snow White, and the role of the prince will be shared by Kuroki and Ichinose-san. Since time is short, let’s quickly decide on the other roles. So, the other roles will be…”

After that, under Hino’s direction, the casting continued smoothly, and the remaining roles were filled.

☆☆

After that, despite having breaks and lunch breaks, I didn’t have a chance to talk with the trio of beautiful girls until after school.

Since their conversation didn’t touch on the play, I couldn’t help but think that something might have happened between Yuria and Rui.

After school, with nothing particular to do, I found myself unconsciously standing in front of a certain bookstore.

(I-I didn’t come here because I’m worried that something might have happened between Yuria and Rui, or because I wanted to coincidentally run into her while buying light novels and ask when her shift ends!)

With tsundere-like thoughts in my mind, I entered the store.

“Welcome… Oh! You’re Airi-chan.”

Inside Tatuya, there was a female manager with short blonde hair at the register.

She had previously misunderstood that Airi and I had a close relationship when she found out about Airi’s secret, and she still seemed to think so now.

“Ah, well, it’s not like I came here to see Airi or anything…”

“Perfect timing! Wait here for a moment.”

The blonde female clerk told me to wait at the register and returned from the back yard with Airi.

“Hey, Ryota? Why are you here? And what’s going on, Manager?”

“There aren’t many customers today, so you can leave early. I’ll punch out your time card at the usual time, of course.”

“But…”

“Airi-chan has been working too hard, so I was worried. Take some time off with your boyfriend today.”

It seemed like the manager was considerate of us.

Just like last time, this manager really is a nice person.

“Well then, I’ll take you up on that offer. Thank you, Manager!”

Airi also didn’t hesitate and accepted the manager’s kindness.

“Ryota, I’ll change and come back. Wait here for a bit, okay?”

“Y-yeah.”

And so, Airi and I were about to have our second after-school “date” (though I just wanted to talk).

—

Chapter 45:

“Sorry to keep you waiting! Alright, Ryota, let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded and walked aimlessly towards the station with Airi and Tatuya, without any particular destination in mind.

“Hey Ryota, what’s up? It’s a surprise to see you suddenly show up at Airi’s workplace.”

“S-Sorry, Airi. I wanted to ask when your shift ends and talk a bit afterward, but the manager…”

“No, no, I’m super happy that my shift ended early and I still get paid! Plus, I’m even happier that I get to hang out with you!”

“A-Airi…”

Airi spoke with a pure and innocent smile, like an oblivious protagonist from some story, and it made me feel warm inside.

Her bouncing… assets were definitely attractive, but Airi’s always so positive that being around her lifts my spirits.

“So, where are we going today? Should we head to Airi’s favorite place?”

“My favorite place?”

“Yeah! There’s a candy shop nearby that I’ve been going to since elementary school. I thought it’d be nice to visit after so long.”

“O-Okay. Let’s go there then.”

With our destination decided, Airi led the way to this so-called ‘favorite place.’

“So, what did you want to talk to me about? Is it something good or bad?”

“I’m not sure yet… I wanted to ask about the play.”

“The play?”

I nodded quietly and got to the point.

I couldn’t shake off the unease until we talked about it properly.

And… I’m really curious about what happened between Yuria and Rui.

“In the end, the role of the prince was double-cast between Ichinose and Kuroki… How did it feel when they made that decision?”

“How did it feel? Are you curious because Yuria and Rui are both playing the prince?”

“Yeah, exactly. But Airi is the only girl I can ask about this…”

“Hehe, just me? That makes me happy~”

Airi grinned and bumped her left shoulder against my right as we walked side by side.

Her reactions are just too cute.

“So, what was it like when they decided?”

“W-Well…”

“At first, everyone was pushing for Rui. I mean, she came up with the whole play and she’s perfect for the role, right?”

“But then, Yuria said Rui couldn’t do it because of her important track meet coming up… Yuria’s so kind.”

“It seems like everyone split into two camps: those who wanted Rui to do it and those who agreed with Yuria.”

“Huh?”

How did it come to this?

Yuria’s reasoning was valid, and if they really cared about Rui, they should’ve supported Yuria’s decision…

(Was there a serious fan club pushing for Rui to play the prince?)

“So, since they couldn’t agree, they just decided to double-cast it. That way, it reduces Rui’s burden, Yuria gets to participate, and it’s good for publicity.”

“That’s chaotic… Did Rui say anything about it?”

“Rui said she could handle it alongside track practice… But there were quite a few who supported Yuria’s wish, so Rui couldn’t push back too hard.”

“So basically, there was some brave resistance among the girls in our class against Rui?”

“Well, yeah. In the end, Rui ended up playing the prince too, which is really inconvenient for me.”

“And that’s the story. It’s going to be tough playing opposite those two, but Airi will support the princess Ryota as a dwarf.”

“Thanks, Airi.”

Come to think of it, Airi’s playing the role of a dwarf she wanted so badly (a busty giant dwarf).

Well, with Airi’s ample assets, playing a male role might be tough… But then again, Yuria’s quite well-endowed too.

“Oh, we’re here! This is Airi’s favorite place.”

“Here is where Airi loves to come, the candy shop!”

Airi pointed to the shop sign as we arrived.

“Airi’s favorite… candy shop!?”