While Wandering Around Naked, I Met An Exhibitionist, The Most Beautiful Half-Nordic Girl From School. - Chapter 12: When three women gather, even the bravest man should be afraid.

When three women gather, even the bravest man should be afraid.

At the end of October, as the month was drawing to a close, the results of the midterms were distributed. My rank was in the 30s, relatively decent but not good enough to boast about.

“Hmm, in the 30s, not bad at all. You’re doing well, my buddy, Shuuichi,” said Utsumi.

“Utsumi.”

“Keep it up. Someday, you’ll be able to walk shoulder to shoulder with me,”

Saying that, Utsumi went off somewhere.

Despite being the kind of idiot who consistently ends up in remedial classes for failing math this time, I wondered what he was trying to prove.

“I was actually pretty confident this time.”

That’s how it’s always been.

No matter how much effort I put in, I can only achieve average results compared to others.

Even though I spend at least two hours studying every day, it’s still sad.

“Speaking of which, I wonder what place Shirogane got.”

Knowing her, she seems like the type who would likely score high marks one way or another.

That’s the stereotype for the beautiful girl characters in school – they’re expected to excel both academically and in other areas.

At least, that’s what I’ve seen in light novels.

If this were a school where grades were publicly posted like in anime, I could have found out, but unfortunately, such events don’t exist in this school.

I’ll ask later.

With that thought in mind, I spent the time until lunch as usual.

Then came lunch break.

My only friend, Utsumi, had gone outside to play soccer, escaping the reality of remedial classes, so I decided to wander around, hoping to run into Shirogane.

“Hmm?”

While passing the time searching for suitable spots for exposure during my walk, I heard faint voices coming from a secluded corner of the school building.

Were some delinquents hanging out?

Intrigued, I decided to quietly observe the situation.

“Hey, do you even understand!?”

I was slightly startled by the sudden loud voice.

Judging from the tone, it sounded like a girl. I held my breath and approached to listen closer.

There, I saw three familiar girls surrounding Shirogane, who stood there looking somewhat lost.

“The guy who confessed to you is actually liked by Yuna, you know!?”

“You were just leading him on, weren’t you!? You understand that, right!?”

“Yuna was crying because of you! It’s all your fault!”

“…”

Could this be what I think it is?

Is this what they call a showdown?

I quickly processed the information I overheard just now.

Shirogane was confessed to by some guy, who Yuna apparently liked.

Yuna, feeling hurt because the person she liked was interested in someone else, was deeply upset, prompting her female friends to confront Shirogane.

Is this what’s happening here?

As I pieced together the situation, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of excitement and guilt, like something out of a shoujo manga.

“…I don’t know. I barely even talked to that guy. It’s annoying to be accused of leading someone on when I’m not interested in them either.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t get cocky.”

Wow. The insults, typical of girls, suddenly turned into menacing threats.

Girls really do switch like that, huh?

As much as I was starting to find it amusing, I realized it was probably time to step in and calm things down, especially since Shirogane looked so dejected.

Keeping a few meters of distance, I approached the group of girls with an air of ‘Here I come to save the day’ in my performance.”

“Wow, it’s so quiet here. This seems like the perfect place to chill alone.”

“Someone’s talking!?”

“Yeah, being alone is the best! Say it, being alone is the best!”

“What’s with this guy… Why is he talking to himself?”

“He’s definitely sketchy. We better leave.”

“Y-yeah, let’s go.”

As the obviously odd guy approached, the three girls who realized it was someone they didn’t want to deal with quickly left. What remained were Shirogane, who stood there clutching her left arm with her right hand and staring into space, and me.

“Hey.”

“…Sup.”

She seemed pretty down. It wasn’t surprising, considering how those girls had just been harshly confronting her.

“Was that bullying just now?”

“Not to that extent. Just… girls’ jealousy can be scary, you know?”

“I see. A tangled mess of emotions, huh?”

“Yeah, something like that. …To me, it felt more like a rear-end collision, though.”

Shirogane is a stunning beauty, even from the perspective of someone like me, who was a loner when I first entered school. So, it wouldn’t be surprising for regular guys to try their luck and confess to her.

I’m sure she’s had plenty of those encounters before. But this time, it ended up causing an unexpected tragedy.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Nothing. Just… leave me alone.”

“Got it. I’ll leave you be.”

People have times when they want to be left alone and times when they don’t. If this is one of those times when she wants to be left alone, trying to force attention on her would only backfire.

Although I said that, deep down, I know she might actually want some comfort. But my interpersonal skills aren’t good enough to see through that.

Next time we meet, I’ll try to be about 2.5 times kinder than usual. With that in mind, I gazed at the approaching rain clouds in the sky.