The Story of How I, a Guy Who Couldn’t Care Less About School Castes, Somehow Ended Up Making All the Five-Star Gals Fall for Me - Chapter 13: Wait! Stop!

Chapter 13: Wait! Stop!

By some rare chance, I’d stayed behind in the classroom—

And that’s how I ended up face-to-face with Hari Suitengu.

Maybe it was just the right timing.

“Planning to play my punching bag or something?”

She gave me a doubtful look.

“If that’s what you want. Just… no actual hitting, please. And if it’s insults, keep them within the bounds of common sense.”

I tried to bargain for at least the bare minimum of mercy.

Getting beaten up—physically or mentally—wasn’t on my to-do list.

“I’m not gonna hit you!”

“We haven’t even talked enough in this class for me to know that, have we?”

I answered back with complete seriousness.

“You’re surprisingly calm about this.”

“Not at all. Honestly, this is the most nervous I’ve been all year.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“I’m just not good at showing it on my face.”

“That makes you hard to read.”

“Right back at you.”

When I tossed that out, she glared at me—but her eyes didn’t have their usual intensity.

“I hate it when people act like they understand me. But what I hate even more is how I can’t just brush it off.”

Her long lashes lowered as she murmured the words.

It was less a question than a confession.

She was frustrated by the gap between the ideal self she wanted to be and the reality she couldn’t escape.

Her body, tense with that suppressed anger, looked so slender, so delicate.

It made me think her frame could shatter like thin glass at the slightest touch.

Maybe the strong, untouchable Hari Suitengu I’d seen in class was nothing more than an illusion.

Even those at the very top carried struggles no one else ever saw.

“There are way too many people out there who are dense and don’t care about anything. Compared to that, being sensitive isn’t a bad thing at all.”

“But living like this—it just feels exhausting.”

Her voice carried a desperate edge.

She probably didn’t want to admit her own weakness.

The higher her ideals climbed, the harsher her self-judgment became.

Maybe that’s why she ended up thinking of herself as some kind of communication failure.

“Can I tell you my honest impression of you, Suitengu-san?”

“…Go ahead. But why?”

“Because it’s better to close the gap between how you see yourself and how others see you. Starts with getting the picture right.”

“…Fine. Let’s hear it.”

I ran through the image of Hari Suitengu I’d seen in class.

“You’re always with your three close friends, looking like you’re having fun. Even the smallest gestures you make feel elegant—so much so that people can’t help staring. When you’re alone, you’re often gazing out the window, and that posture gives off a total ‘don’t talk to me’ aura. And even though you know that, whenever someone outside your circle actually talks to you, you panic because you don’t know how to respond. You get nervous, your words come out blunt, and then you probably regret it later. And also—”

“Wait! Stop! Are you seriously saying all that while sober!?”

She threw both hands up to cut me off.

“Of course. I’m a minor—no way I’d be drinking.”

Not like I had the guts to try sneaking booze at school anyway.

“W-Why can you say things like that so calmly?”

“I’m just stating a mix of objective facts and subjective impressions.”

“…Are you trying to hit on me?”

If it sounded that way to her, then that was probably because of the old me.

“I don’t think you’d ever fall for me anyway.”

If you did, that’d be way too easy.

“It’s just… no one’s ever observed me that closely before. Ugh, this is embarrassing.”

She touched her hair like she was trying to play it off, but if you looked closely, her ears had turned red.

“Did I creep you out?”

“When I was a kid, I was seriously aiming to be a professional ballet dancer, so I got used to people watching me.”

“And now? You don’t do ballet at all anymore?”

“I got injured. Had no choice but to quit. Half-hearted effort would’ve been pathetic, so I cut it off clean.”

She said it bluntly.

“…I see. Must’ve been rough.”

“It’s over now. My childhood dream broke, and I couldn’t keep a promise I made with an old friend. There were a lot of painful things, but just like you said—I’m enjoying high school now.”

Her expression was clear, as if she’d shaken off the weight of the past.

“That promise with your old friend?”

“Hmm? Oh, just some silly talk from when I was little.”

“──Aren’t those kinds of promises usually forgotten?”

“Not being able to forget is what made it hell. But I got through it.”

If I told her that I was Koi-chan, how would she react?

Would she break down crying again?

Or maybe she wouldn’t believe me at all.

No… staying silent was still the right call.

“If you’re at peace with it, then I’m glad.”

I genuinely meant that.

“Maybe cutting my hair short was a big part of it too. I’d been growing it out for years just to make a bun, but chopping it all off made me feel like a different person. Felt refreshing. Plus, washing and drying it’s easier, and my head feels lighter.”

“Short hair suits you.”

“…Kizuki, you act absentminded, but you’re actually pretty attentive, huh.”

“Am I? People usually say they have no idea what I’m thinking.”

“Oh, I totally get that. You don’t really show a lot of ups and downs.”

She sounded way too convinced.

“Yeah, talking like this, I realize I don’t know you at all.”

Her words sounded like she was giving up—but she was smiling.

Seeing that expression, I must’ve felt relieved too, because—

growl~~

My stomach growled. It was already well past noon.

“…Guess I haven’t eaten lunch yet.”

I put a hand on my belly.

My dumb little slip-up must’ve been a good pressure release, because the sharp edge in Hari’s mood softened.

“Alright then. Since it won’t really matter if it’s just you, I’ll let you be my punching bag after all.”

“I never asked for that.”

I made sure to correct her on that part.

“So, Kizuki—you free after this?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Good. I’m hungry—let’s go grab lunch somewhere.”

Her suggestion caught me completely off guard.

“…You sure about that?”
“I’m the one inviting you, so of course it’s fine.”

She said it so matter-of-factly.

“What about your usual friends?”

“They’ve all got plans today. We’ll do our midterm celebration another time, so no problem.”

So there really wasn’t anything stopping her.

Just like that, I suddenly found myself heading out with Hari Suitengu—just the two of us.

That kind of boldness was exactly what made her one of the Five-Star Gals.

“Don’t even think about saying no, alright?”

Hari leaned in with a playful little threat, clearly in a good mood.

And obviously, since she was the one who asked first, there was no way I could turn her down now.