When Two Wounded Hearts Find Solace In Each Other, Snow White (The School's Beauty) And I Were Mistakenly Labeled As A Silly Couple. - Chapter 1: Two Souls Wounded By The Pain Within...

Two Souls Wounded By The Pain Within…

“I’m sorry. I see you as a younger brother, so I don’t think of you romantically.”

In his second spring since entering high school, Takahashi gathered the courage to confess his feelings to his childhood friend, who was the same age and like an elder sister to him, only to be rejected.

After school, he called her out behind the school building to confess. However, it seems that, having been together since kindergarten, she treated him more like family than a friend.

Still shocked by the rejection, Takashi hasn’t been able to bring himself to go home from school, slowly climbing the stairs on his way to the rooftop.

“What are you going to do?”

He doesn’t know why he’s heading to the rooftop, and there’s nothing there even if he arrives.

But somehow, instinct tells him that going to the rooftop is the right thing to do.

As he slowly opens the door to the rooftop, he is greeted by the dazzling sunlight and the warm spring breeze appropriate for the season.

“Is she… crying?”

There is already someone on the rooftop, a girl sitting on the floor, crying.

He recalls that this girl is Shirayuki Himeno, who joined the same class this year. He heard that she is considered the school’s most beautiful girl.

Shirayuki, with her well-maintained silver hair that reaches down to her hips, blue eyes framed by long eyelashes, and flawless milky-white skin, indeed seems worthy of the title of the school’s most beautiful girl.

Her silver hair and blue eyes are said to be the result of a quarter of Russian blood mixing in her heritage.

Takashi has only recently been in the same class with her since this year, so he doesn’t know much about her. However, besides her beautiful appearance, rumors say she excels in athletic ability and consistently ranks first in the class in tests, making her a perfect superhuman.

Despite her stunning beauty, she seems humble and unpretentious, perhaps why she is incredibly popular. In just her first year, she received confessions from over fifty people.

Due to her exceptionally beautiful appearance, male students at the school call her Snow White, after the heroine of a certain fairy tale who was proclaimed the most beautiful in the world by a magic mirror.

“What…. happened…?”

Despite still feeling the shock of being rejected, Takashi couldn’t ignore Himeno.

It was the first time they were alone like this, and he felt nervous, but he couldn’t be so heartless as to leave a crying girl alone.

Moreover, she was crying at school, so there must be some reason.

“Takahashi… kun?”

Her tearful blue eyes turned towards him.

Even though it had only been about a week since they became classmates, it seemed like she remembered his name.

“Why are you… cryin…g?”

Feeling like crying himself due to the shock of being rejected, Takashi restrained himself and approached Himeno. He sat down and adjusted his eye level to be about the same as hers.

Since she was crying, something must have been painful, so looking down on her from above would not be appropriate.

He recalled something he had learned from his childhood friend—that it’s not good to look down on girls because they are delicate. Takashi somehow put that into practice.

“Ahh.. W…ell…  don’t mind me.”

“Don’t mind you… I can’t just leave you alone.”

For whatever reason, he couldn’t ignore a crying girl, especially one who had rejected him.

“You’re crying too, aren’t you? Something sad must have happened.”

“Huh?”

Upon Himeno’s words, he realized the sensation running down his cheek.

Touching his cheek, he confirmed that it was tears, not sweat. Apparently, he had been crying even before coming to the rooftop.

The shock of being rejected was so overwhelming that he hadn’t even noticed that he was crying.

“I see… Just a little while ago, I confessed to my childhood friend and… got rejected.”

As he recalled the moment of rejection, more tears overflowed from Takashi’s eyes.

It had been a while since he cried this much, and despite using his hands to wipe away the tears, they wouldn’t stop.

“In that case, you don’t have the luxury to care about me, do you…? It must be tough for you…as well…”

“Yeah, it is… But I can’t just leave crying Snow White alone.”

Since he’s a guy, it’s probably crucial for him to endure his own pain and prioritize finding out why Himeno is crying.

There are various reasons why a girl might cry at school, with being bullied or confessing to someone they like being two possibilities.

Considering Himeno is known as the school’s most beautiful girl, the likelihood of her being rejected in a confession is low, so the former is more probable.

“No matter how many times I decline your advances, you don’t seem to back off, do you?”

“Sorry…”

“No, it’s okay.”

Normally, he might have withdrawn right away, but the shock of being rejected was so great that he stubbornly wanted to talk to someone.

“There are girls in school who don’t like me.”

After taking a deep breath, Himeno slowly began to speak.

Takashi recalled the conversations among the girls about her from before.

Himeno, with features more perfect than a model or actress, was overwhelmingly popular among boys, leading to her being disliked by girls.

It seemed like there were rumors of jealousy and spiteful remarks behind her back.

“Earlier, the girls called me over and said various things. ‘Just because you’re a little popular, don’t get carried away. You’re just pretending to be a good girl at school, but outside, you’re a woman who gets embraced by handsome men or earns pocket money through compensated dating. Just quit school.’ It was all sorts of things. I swear to God, I have no experience with men, relationships, or compensated dating. What the girls are saying is baseless.”

Himeno explained the reason for her tears. While she had been the subject of gossip before, being confronted with unfounded accusations face-to-face must have been emotionally painful.

Perhaps among the girls who had spoken ill of her, there was someone she liked, and that person might have feelings for Himeno. If the person she liked preferred someone else, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for jealousy to turn into anger.

Female bullying is said to be worse than male bullying, and she might have endured various hurtful comments. Despite being called Snow White, Himeno was just a girl who would be hurt by false accusations of engaging in questionable activities.

Judging by her appearance, she likely hadn’t faced physical violence.

“It’s tough to hear spiteful remarks and jealousy directly.”

Tears streaming from her blue eyes turned into large droplets. Takashi, having experienced occasional spiteful comments due to being with his beautiful childhood friend every day, empathized with Himeno’s pain.

“…Huh?”

Understanding that pain led Takashi to unconsciously embrace Himeno. Her delicate figure fit snugly into his arms.

“Let’s cry when things are tough. I’ll stay with you until you stop crying.”

“But, Takahashi-kun, you must be going through a hard time too…”

“I-I’ll be fine. Actually, being with someone helps distract …me.”

Understanding her pain made being with her somewhat easier. The feeling that his own pain was being overwritten by hers made the sting of rejection a bit more bearable.

“Thank you so much.”

With a loud sob, Himeno cried in Takashi’s embrace.