You Girls Are Way Too Obsessed With A Lone Wolf Like Me - Volume 2 C - Prologue

Volume 2 C – Prologue

The early days of July. Supposedly shoshun—the beginning of summer—but the heat was way past that. We were well into the season of soul-melting scorchers. Global warming was in full swing, obviously.

Outside, cicadas were going full-on choir mode—jiijii, minmin, all that jazz. And even though the sun was starting to set, the noise still hadn’t let up. People like to say it’s a “classic summer sound,” but when you’re stuck at home thanks to a nasty bout of summer flu, it’s got zero charm. Final verdict: shut up already.

Cicadas remind me of party people. They make a ruckus in groups, and they’re all-in on this one season like it’s their life’s mission. I wouldn’t be surprised if they showed up at a reggae summer fest, towel in hand, swinging it like maniacs.

If I, a diehard lone wolf, ever got reincarnated as a cicada, I’d probably go my whole life without making a single sound. Hell, I might not even crawl out of the dirt. I’d rather just stay underground, quietly fade away, and become nourishment for the soil than fling myself into the chaos of reproduction.

…And yet here I am, ditching school and pondering this nonsense.

If I’m trying to see things positively, maybe the fact that I can think about dumb stuff like this means I’m starting to feel better?

Ding-dong.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

No one else was home right now. That meant I was the only one who could answer it. I could pretend no one’s here, but if it was a delivery guy, making them come back out in this blazing heat felt kinda cruel.

My body still felt a bit heavy, but I could move. So I stood up from bed and headed from my second-floor room down to the front door.

When I opened it, standing there were two very familiar girls in school uniforms. My brow twitched a bit. Maybe it was from the heat. Or maybe because they were too familiar.

“Yahho~! We came to check on you!”

The one with a dazzling smile full of charm was Misaki Karin—honestly, she’s such a massive deal you could call her the idol of Otozuka High, never mind just her own class. The kind of girl you’d label an absolute heroine. Also known as a card-carrying humanitarian.

Next to her, Hatori Erena gave me a polite, elegant little smile.

“We got your address from Ama-chan-sensei. Still feeling rough?”

If Karin was the sun, then Erena was the moon. Cool eyes, silky straight black hair that shimmered like ink… She gave off a more mature vibe than most girls our age, almost graceful.

Ever since that social gathering we had for the class bonding event, these two have taken a liking to loitering in my beloved private sanctum. Not that I ever invited them.

And now, here they were, againe standing at my front door.

I mean, sure, I like being alone, but I still have basic communication skills.

“…Yo,” I greeted, with the most half-hearted nod ever.

Greeting: complete.

“Alright then.”

“H-Himemiya-kun!?”

“W-Wait, Himemiya…!”

I gave them one more quick nod and started closing the door.

Just as I turned to head back up the stairs—KON KON! A knock.

“…”

I stood there for fifteen seconds. The knocking didn’t stop. You know how they say “no rain lasts forever”? Well, apparently knocking doesn’t follow that rule. Great.

With a sigh, I opened the door again.

Gone was the cheery atmosphere from before. Both of them were now sporting expressions of pure pouty annoyance. Misaki looked like she was going gnunununu…! while Erena was more of a muuuuu…! vibe. Honestly? Kinda adorable.

Don’t look at me like that. You’re making me wanna run.

Misaki whipped out her phone like some kind of cop flashing her badge, showing me a very incriminating screen.

It was our LINE chat. This morning, she’d sent:

[Karin]: Good morning~! Looks like you’re still out today. You doing okay?

And around lunchtime:

[Karin]: Feeling any better? Erena and I are thinking of dropping by after school. That okay? I’ll bring that pudding you like~!

There was even a cute bunny nurse sticker under it.

And then… nothing. Because I never replied. Of course.

Yup. The legendary sin: Read and Ignore.

“Himemiya-kun, don’t you think you have something to say for yourself…?”

“…… Is it too late?”

“Wrong answer!! I’m talking about you leaving me on read!”

Yeah, I knew.

“They say ‘dead men tell no tales,’ so sick guys are kinda a gray area, yeah?”

“Himemiya-kun, your ghosting is basically a seasonal tradition at this point!”

If it’s a tradition, then maybe you should just stop messaging me in the first place?

Damn it… If I’d known this was gonna happen, I should’ve just texted “Not feeling up for it” or something. I honestly didn’t think they’d actually come. But this was Misaki. She’s got more compassion in her pinky than most people have in their whole body.

“You were just thinking that you should have sent a message declining the visit, right?”

Misaki leaned in close, giving me a sharp, accusatory squint.

…Wow. Girl’s a full-on communication monster. Nailed my thoughts exactly.

As a reward for her correct guess, I quickly looked away.

In the end, she even came into my room. I would have preferred the living room, but Misaki insisted, “You should still be lying down.” My opinion, “You might catch my illness, so you should go home. Actually, just leave,” was rejected.

And now, here we are: me, propped up on one elbow on the bed, looking down at Misaki and Hatori, creating a maharaja-like atmosphere. Like some oil tycoon with beautiful attendants on either side?

This is bad; I’m not happy about this at all.

The only good thing about this situation is that the pudding Misaki and Hatori brought as a souvenir is delicious.

As expected of Misaki, a sweets-loving girl, her recommendation is spot on. The smooth custard in the glass jar is exquisite, and the slightly sweet flavor is perfectly balanced with the bittersweet caramel, creating a harmonious taste that’s neither cloying nor tiring. It’s truly delicious.

I’d like to express my sincere gratitude for this souvenir, but—

“Erena’s lemon cream looks so good!”

“Yeah, it’s refreshing and delicious. It’s a limited-time flavor, so I’m glad I chose it. How about Karin’s caramel nut?”

“It’s super delicious! Hey, let’s swap a bite!”

“Really?”

Before I could finish speaking, Misaki scoops a bite of her pudding and brings the spoon to Hatori’s mouth.

Hatori glances at me shyly but seems unable to resist the sweet temptation. She scoops a bite of her own pudding and brings it to Misaki’s mouth.

They cross hands, feeding each other their respective puddings in a yuri-like moment of bliss.

“So good~♪” “Pure happiness……♪”

Don’t get so carried away, you two.

Did you really come here to visit me, or did you just turn my house into a café…?

Watching their excitement makes me lose any desire to thank them.

Noticing my gaze, Misaki hides her pudding behind her half-turned body. Then, she sticks out her tongue playfully.

“This is all your fault you know, Himemiya-kun? If you’d replied to my messages, I would’ve brought a different flavor of pudding for you. As punishment, we’re not sharing our pudding.”

“I wasn’t staring out of envy, you know.”

I’m not that greedy.

“H-Haru-niiiii!”

The front door slams open with a loud bang, and a voice even noisier than cicadas echoes up to the second floor.

“Ugh… she’s back…”

“?” “?”

The noise shows no signs of stopping. The owner of the voice rushes up the stairs, dashes down the hallway at full speed, and bursts into my room.

The small creature standing in front of the door was my little sister, Yuzu.

— No. The small creature that had been standing there was my little sister, Yuzu. Why the past tense, you ask? Because she’d already launched herself at me. Head-first. Like a flying dive.

With a fierce zutsuki—a headbutt—straight to my stomach, I let out a pained “Guh…!” as the air escaped me. Her twin-tails whipped my cheeks like a back-and-forth slap, and her bento bag, dangling from a hook on her randoseru, smacked me in the back of the head for good measure.

Still half-crying, Yuzu clung to me tightly, touching my face and body all over, desperate.

“Haru-nii, are you okay!? You’re not dead, right!? You’re alive!?”

“A measly summer cold ain’t gonna kill me.”

Ever since I caught this cold, she’s been like this nonstop.

My third-grade little sister is so loud and noisy, you’d start to doubt if we’re even blood-related. And as you can see, she’s the type who hasn’t figured out how to be independent from her Onii-chan.

Honestly, she loves me too much.

“It’s too hot. Get off me.”

“It’s only hot because you’ve got a fever! Just wait! I’ll lower the AC temp right now!”

Snatching the remote from the table with lightning speed, Yuzu unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of button presses. Pipipipipi…! The AC began its freezing onslaught with terrifying force.

“Are you stupid! How low are you setting that thing!?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Even if it’s bad for the planet, it’s good for Haru-nii’s body, so it’s fine!”

“It’s bad for my body too, now gimme the remote!”

“Nuh-uh～～～!”

As I wrestled with my hopelessly stubborn little sister, refusing to give up the remote, I felt a pair of intense gazes pierce through me.

Ah. Right. I totally forgot about them—Misaki and Hatori.

The two of them were just standing there, mouths agape, but quickly snapped back to reality.

Then, with eyes sparkling and cheeks softening into smiles, they both spoke in perfect sync:

“”S-So cuuuute…!””

Shut up.

Yuzu flinched, Hah!, reacting a beat late. She turned to look at them and tilted her head ever-so-slightly, enough that her right twin-tail nearly touched the floor.

“And you two are…?”

Seriously!? Now you realize they’re here!?

True to her “I wanna be friends with everyone in the whole school!” declaration, Misaki stepped forward with a warm smile that could put anyone at ease. Crouching to Yuzu’s eye level, she spoke gently.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Misaki Karin, Himemiya-kun’s classmate. This girl here is Hatori Erena. The two of us came to visit your big brother today. Hope we can get along!”

Hatori, who’d been introduced by Misaki, also smiled gently at Yuzu.

“Hello there.”

Then she added sweetly,

“Would you mind telling us your name?”

But Yuzu, maybe nervous, ducked behind my back for cover. The two didn’t seem to mind though—they just kept waiting patiently, faces glowing with gentle smiles that said, We’d love to hear your name from you.

After a moment, Yuzu slowly peeked out from behind me, only half her face showing.

“──There’s,”

“““There’s?”””

“There’s no way Haru-nii has classmates who’d come visit him when he’s sick! Haru-nii’s a loner!”

“…What’s with that somehow happy yet depressing shout…”

“”…””

Of the two girls left speechless with a blank stare, it was Misaki who recovered first.

“I-It’s okay! We are Himemiya-kun’s friends, promise!”

She glanced to Hatori for support, and after a beat, Hatori nodded too.

“Y-Yeah! At least, we think we’re his friends… I mean, I’m not sure what Himemiya thinks, but…”

Ow. Those two pairs of eyes stabbed deep into me.

Misaki continued trying to assure Yuzu that we’re not bad people, but Yuzu wasn’t budging. Shaking her twin-tails back and forth with fierce resolve, she made it clear: absolutely no trust given. Her image of “Haru-nii = always alone” was ironclad. No way she was letting her guard down around Misaki and Hatori.

“Saying you’re friends is a lie! You’re lying! Haru-nii said it himself! That one-sided friendships don’t count! That’s just a convenient friend!”

“…That… yeah, that definitely sounds like something Himemiya would say…”

“Himemiya-kun! You can’t go around teaching your little sister weird stuff like that!”

As expected of my little sister. She remembers my philosophy perfectly.

…Her future’s starting to worry me though.

At this point, Yuzu was going full-on rogue mode.

“This is a classic honey trap setup! I bet there’s a super buff dude waiting outside or something!” she shouted, and started glancing wildly out the window, clearly scanning for nonexistent muscular men lurking in wait. Then she even started shouting outside:

“Quit hiding and come out, you big muscle guy! Haru-nii doesn’t run or hide—he fights fair and square!”

“Stop that, idiot! You’re gonna freak out the neighbors!!”

If there really was some guy out there, what the hell would I do? I ain’t fighting anybody!

“P-Please calm down!” Misaki begged, trying her best to soothe the chaos. But Yuzu’s rampage couldn’t be stopped.

“Even if they’ve got the numbers, Haru-nii’s TUEEEE so he’ll be fi──,!”

And then, mid rap-style rant, Yuzu just—froze.

“…Yuzu?”

We all paused, unsure what happened. Then from the pit of her stomach came a long, low:

Guuuuuuuu…

“…I’m hungry.”

Seriously, are you chaos incarnate or what…?

“Uh… I brought another pudding… want it?”

Misaki opened the paper box she’d stashed under the table and held out a second cup of pudding toward Yuzu.

Yuzu stared at the pudding.

“…………. I’ll eat it!”

I’m really starting to worry about my sister’s future.

Yuzu, who was leaning on Misaki like a child, had fully warmed up to the two of them. It wasn’t particularly surprising since she was always the kind of person to warm up quickly to others, but to get this cozy over just one pudding? It’s hard to deny the feeling of disappointment.

“Uhm uhm! Haru-nii said to Yuzu that he likes Yuzu and being alone. That’s why Yuzu thought you were bad girls. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s more of a problem with Himemiya-kun himself liking being alone.”

“I can’t let that slide.”

Also, Yuzu. Don’t just casually add yourself into the list of things I like.

“Hey, hey!”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Which one of you is Haru-nii’s girlfriend?”

““Eh!?””

“Or are you both just convenient friends…?”

That changes the meaning a lot, so please stop.

Looks like the two of them are thinking the same thing as me. The awkward atmosphere was too much to handle, and Misaki tried to cover it up by sipping her barley tea a little too much, while Hatori just took a big gulp from her glass to cool down.

“Yuzu. Don’t say things that’ll make them uncomfortable.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m the one who would have to clean up this mess.”

“That’s the worst reason ever, Himemiya-kun!”

Well, because right now, I am the one cleaning up this mess.

“Okay!” Yuzu raised her hand and then hopped off Misaki, coming straight to me.

“Haru-nii~!”

“What is it?”

“Are you better now? You won’t die?”

“You’re so persistent…”

At this point, it almost feels like I’m the one being asked if I’m still not dead.

I knew better than to dwell on this too long. The best way to handle this is to just go with the flow.

“Yeah, I’m fine now. I’ll be back to school like normal starting tomorrow.”

“Really!? Then let’s go to the pool! This Saturday!”

“I feel like I’ll die so that’s a no.”

“Why!? I thought you weren’t gonna die!?”

“Everyone dies eventually.”

“Haru-nii won’t die!”

“What do you think I am…?”

“??? My cool Onii-chan who can live alone forever.”

So, being alone = immortal? That’s the logic we’re going with? The strongest forever alone?

As expected of Yuzu. Trying to drag someone who’s recovering from illness to the pool? What a monster.

That said, she’s been pestering me about going to the pool for a while. Apparently, she wants to show off the results of her swimming school practice.

But come on, who the heck wants to go to the pool with their little sister when they’re in high school?

“Just upload it to YouTube. I’ll watch it if I feel like it.”

“Noooo, I don’t want to, don’t want to! A lot of strangers will watch it so I don’t want to!!”

She’s apparently not a fan of being loved by big friends. (T/N: Adults basically.)

“Don’t you want to go to the pool too, Big sisters?!”

Yuzu pounced on Misaki, likely hoping for her to save her.

I have a bad feeling about this…

Misaki sighed, “Ah…”, putting her hands together apologetically.

“Sorry, Onee-chan has other plans this Saturday.”

“I’m disappointed in you, Onee-chan A!”

“Disappointed!? And A!?!”

That was a close one… looks like my worrying was for nothing. When you think about it, Misaki’s the idol of the school’s top social class. She’s got plans with her friends, shopping trips, and whatnot. It’s no surprise she’d be busy. What is she, a three-star restaurant?

Since Misaki’s no longer an option, Yuzu leaped straight onto Hatori.

“What about Onee-chan B?!”

“Onee-chan B,” also known as Hatori, placed her finger on her lips and made a thoughtful gesture.

Then she said:

“Can you wait for a sec?”

“Oi, don’t tell me you…!”

Hatori pulled out her phone from her bag and left the room.

That bad feeling is back. I hope it’s just my imagination. Trying to shake off my unease, I slowly followed her, stepping out into the hallway with a slight delay.

I looked around to see where she went, and I could hear a voice coming from near the stairs.

Listening closely, I peeked down to see—

“M-mom? Is it okay if we go shopping together on another time? Y-Yeah, I’d really like to go to the pool with my friends…”

That brat… She’s choosing something as ridiculous as this over her own mother?

“Ah! Th-thank you! Y-yeah♪”

Looks like the conversation with her mom was a success. Hatori clenched her fists in front of her chest, doing a victory pose as if savoring the moment. And then, I could hear a little tune, like she was humming a song with a happy feeling. As expected, for someone who says she’s not very grown-up, she sure knows how to be cute.

But seriously, this is bad.

It’s already too late. With a skip in her step, her chest bouncing, Hatori came back up the stairs in a good mood.

The song she was humming, the new track from the band I like, came to an abrupt halt when she saw me. At the same time, Hatori froze, her big eyes locking onto me, unable to look away.

“H-Himemiya…!”

“Oh, hey…”

“D-did you hear…?”

“Yeah…”

“~~~!”

It was a voice that couldn’t even be called a voice. At the very least, not wanting her expression to be seen, she tried to hide her blushing face with both hands, but… Hatori’s full, well-shaped chest went “gyuuuuuu!” pressed tightly against both her arms.

What you’re doing right now is more embarrassing than the earlier talk with your mother… Not like I can say that.

“I-I’ll go…”

“Huh?”

Still red-faced, Hatori boldly declared, like a little league baseball player:

“I’m going to the pool with you and Yuzu-chan!”

“…”

I didn’t even say I was going, though.