Why Is the Prettiest Girl in School Trying to Talk to a Loner Like Me during Lunch Break?

Chapter 63 – Punishment Game

“W-wait just a minute, Momoi-san! You want us to call each other ‘Romeo’ and ‘Juliet’… here in this shopping center?!”

“That’s right! Of course, Andou-kun will be ‘Romeo’ and Sakura will be ‘Juliet,’ obviously.”

“I get that part! But that’s not the point… Momo, that’s way too embarrassing…”

“What are you talking about! Sakura, this is all for your sake, you know?”

“Momo…”

“Since you can’t get into character, experiencing Romeo and Juliet in real life will help you truly become Juliet. Plus, the atmosphere between you and Andou-kun will also— Oops, almost said too much… Oh, and I’m also here to monitor whether you two can actually follow through with the challenge!”

“Hm? Momoi-san, weren’t you about to say something else just now?”

“Whatever could you mean?”

(Hehe, at first I was thinking about how to fix Sakura’s terrible acting, but when you think about it, a girl in love doesn’t need to act like she’s in love. So today’s real plan is to make Sakura realize that!)

(No choice… Since there’s supposedly a reason about improving Asakura-san’s acting, I should try to get through today without saying Asakura-san’s name—)

“Oh, and by the way, this is a challenge from Class Rep: ‘Today you two must call each other by your character names at least thirty times! If you can’t reach thirty times or if you say a real name, it’s punishment game time!'”

“‘Punishment game?'”

“Right, I haven’t explained that yet. If you say a real name instead of the character name, there’s a punishment game. And if you can’t call each other by character names thirty times before the date ends, you’ll also get punished!”

“M-Momoi-san… what exactly is this punishment game?”

(I have a really bad feeling about this…)

“Simple! The person who breaks the rules has to whisper ‘words of love’ to their partner.”

“‘Words of love?!'”

“Wait, Momo! W-words of love… so for example, if I mess up, that means I have to whisper words of love to Andou-kun, right?!”

“A-Asa— mgh!”

(Crap! I almost said her name!)

“Exactly! So Sakura will be whispering ‘words of love’ to Andou-kun!”

“Huh, what’s wrong with Andou-kun— Wait, what?! Momo, why does it suddenly become me whispering words of love to Andou-kun?!”

“Eh? But didn’t Sakura just say it herself? ‘So for example, if I mess up, that means I have to whisper words of love to Andou-kun, right?!’ You said Andou-kun, didn’t you?”

“Ah…”

“Asa— I mean, Juliet-san… looks like the date has already started, so let’s be careful about what we say.”

“Right… you’re absolutely right, Ando—”

“Juliet, stop!”

“Hagu! That was close… Um, thank you, R-Romeo…”

“Yeah…”

(This is so embarrassing to call each other…) (Andou and Asakura)

“Okay, sorry to interrupt your flirting, but Sakura already owes Andou-kun three rounds of whispered words of love as punishment!”

“Wait, Momo! Why three times?! Isn’t the punishment supposed to be just one round of words of love?!”

“Nope! Because Sakura has already called Andou-kun’s name three times!”

“Huh…?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, she definitely did…”

“What?! Andou-kun… that can’t be right, can it?”

“And there’s number four!”

[Bonus Story] “Hairstyle”

“Hey, Andou-kun.”

“What’s up, Asakura-san?”

“The light novels you read…”

“?”

“They have a lot of black-haired, long-haired heroines, don’t they? Are girls with black hair and long hair your type…?”

“Huh?! Uh… well, I-is that so…? Now that you mention it, there might be quite a few?”

“Hmm… I see~”

(What’s Asakura-san suddenly bringing this up for… Well, it’s just about light novel preferences, right? She’s not asking if I personally like black-haired, long-haired girls—she’s talking about light novel heroines. Yeah, fiction and reality are totally different…)

(Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… Andou-kun likes black hair and long hair… In other words! That means Andou-kun likes my black hair! Myukyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!)

“W-well… light novels just tend to have a lot of black-haired, long-haired heroines in general, so it’s probably just coincidence. Aha, ahaha…”

“Huh, what was that?”

“Asakura-san, why are you suddenly acting like one of those conveniently deaf protagonists from light novels?!”

(I’ve decided—I’m keeping my hair black and long for the rest of my life!)