Mob Character Reincarnation Loner: As a Result of Supporting the Heroine Who Had Been Rejected, I Ended up Being the Recipient of Her Heavy Emotions…
Bowling Tournament Day.
I sat at Spoccha with a sullen expression.
I really didn’t want to be here, but I figured it’d be more trouble if I ignored the plan and let Irie charm some new girl over here. Honestly, I had no choice.
There was a luck factor with the lottery draw, but I managed to end up in the same group as Irie.
It was a group of six: three guys and three girls. The members were the typical popular guys and the typical popular girls.
For now, I sat silently next to Irie.
The guys were talking to the other girls, not looking my way at all.
The reason was probably my outfit.
Bundled in a long coat, thick-rimmed glasses, a hat, and a mask, I was hunched over—beyond plain, bordering on suspicious.
The plan was to get close to Irie like this and scare off the girls from other schools. By the way, Misuzu came up with the strategy.
“Um. Soramachi-san. N-nice to meet you.”
Irie spoke to me, probably because we were seated next to each other. I kept my head down and ignored him for now.
Incidentally, I’m now going by the alias Soramachi Aoi.
“…Are you feeling sick or something?”
Irie peered down at me, still facing downward, looking concerned.
This is bad. he’s misunderstanding something weird. But my voice will give me away…
Come to think of it, Hiyori said something like, “If you type on your phone to talk, it’ll be fine!” …but no, this would definitely make him suspicious.
‘I have a complex about my voice… I always communicate by text.’
“I see…”
Irie nods, looking convinced.
Why would he believe that? This idiot.
“I never imagined someone like that existed in real life…”
‘Huh?’
“Ah, no… But still, that outfit…”
Seeing Irie look like he wants to say something, I type again and show him my phone screen.
‘What is it? Got a problem with my fashion sense?’
“Eh, no… Not at all. It’s just… I got hassled by a girl wearing similar clothes recently… I was wondering if it’s a trendy fashion thing…”
“Exactly. You’re clueless about fashion, aren’t you?”
“Huh, oh… I see… That’s helpful… Should I wear this when I go to the movies with Tsukimi-san next week?”
Absolutely not.
While this was going on, the bowling tournament started.
The guys were trying to impress girls by racking up strikes. Seeing this, the gals showered them with praise and squealed.
When it was my turn, I threw the bowling ball. It rolled straight into the right gutter, knocking over nothing before disappearing.
The second throw was the same. My first frame result was a gutter ball.
“Ahaha, don’t worry, don’t worry~”
The boys’ slightly mocking voices and the girls giggling as they watched me. I’m terrible at ball sports, so I knew this would happen.
…That’s why I didn’t want to come.
“……………….My turn next.”
Irie glanced at me briefly before throwing his bowling ball. It slowly rolled into the right gutter.
…It’s a gutter ball.
Once again, laughter erupted—even more mocking than when it happened to me.
“Well… guess I was off today.”
Don’t you dare say that while glancing at me.
Irie’s first frame ended with the same gutter ball as mine. The order quickly cycled back around, and it was my turn again.
Sigh. Have to throw again… It’ll probably be another gutter ball anyway. Ugh, I really don’t want to…
“Sora-chan. They say when you throw the ball, it’s good to aim for that triangle marker. Try to keep your body, arm, and ball facing straight ahead.”
Shut up, gutter ball guy.
Well, I guess… I’ll try to keep it in mind.
Following Irie’s advice, I focused on the marker, keeping my body, arm, and ball facing straight ahead as I threw.
…Ah, four pins down.
“Whoa, nice!”
I couldn’t help but turn my face away without saying anything to Irie, who was beaming at me happily.
After that, time flew by, and one game ended.
Thanks to Irie giving me all sorts of advice, I managed to get a decent score.
It was only once, but I never thought I could get a strike.
Bowling might not be so bad…
“Hey! Bun-chin! Look at this! I got over 250!”
“Whoa, that’s amazing! That’s practically a perfect game!!”
The Irie & Kimura duo, two guys getting all excited together. And the girls, staring at Irie with pure hostility.
“So how’d you do, Bun-chin~… Huh?”
The moment Kimura saw the scoreboard, he immediately turned his gaze toward Irie. Irie looked away.
“Bunchin~ Let’s go talk over there~”
“Ah, yes…”
Irie was dragged away by the grinning Kimura.
Where did they go… Oh well.
I returned my gaze to my phone and sent a group message announcing the success of this operation.
“Irie, right? Why is someone like him so close with Kimura-kun?”
“Exactly. He’s not exactly handsome, he sucked at bowling, and he has zero awareness that he’s dragging down the level of this lane.”
“Seriously, he looks so out of place, you wonder why he even came.”
“He’s obviously just the designated loser, right?”
Irie was getting roasted by the folks on Lane 3. Well, couldn’t argue about his bowling skills.
But…
…they don’t know anything about him.
Somehow, I felt uncomfortable here and left. Walking aimlessly, I happened to spot Irie and Kimura.
“Bunchin. You haven’t forgotten today’s goal, right?”
“Ah, yes… To rack up strikes, get fawned over by girls from other schools, and maybe even lead to something afterward.”
“Bunchin… You deliberately acted bad so machi-san wouldn’t get made fun of, didn’t you?”
…Huh?
“You’ve gotten as good as me now… What a waste.”
“But… since we ended up in the same group, I wanted her to enjoy herself…”
“Even so… didn’t the others make fun of you?”
“…Well, yeah.”
“Haa, why do you always… really…”
“But I’m glad Machi-san seemed to be having fun.”
Irie said that… with a carefree smile.
I slipped away from the two of them, heading for the restroom so they wouldn’t notice.
“……………….”
Standing before the vanity, I took off my coat, glasses, mask, and hat.
The half-up style Hiyori had set for me to look neat and demure. It was a bit messy now, but I could probably fix it.
I fixed my hair and fiddled with my bangs.
…There was one more plan.
The plan Hiyori suggested: me, dressed up super stylishly, sticking close to Irie to intimidate girls from other schools…
I rejected it immediately since it assumed Irie would notice, but I gave in to Hiyori wanting to style my hair and let her do it.
Not to brag, but I’ve been confessed to by boys just like Hiyori and the others.
So, I’m somewhat aware that my appearance is above average.
When I returned to lane 3, the boys’ gazes instantly turned towards me.
“…Huh? Who’s that cute girl?”
“Isn’t that Soramachi-san? Wait, she was that cute?”
The two boys ignored the girl next to them and stared at me intently. Even though they hadn’t looked at me at all until just now…
“Aoi-chan… right? We’re going to karaoke after this. Want to come?”
“We’ll treat! Come on!!”
“…Huh? Tsukimi-san?”
“Bungaku-kun, you’re late.”
I stood up, carrying both my bag and Irie’s. Then, I threw my arms around the stunned Irie and announced to everyone present.
“I’m going to Bungaku-kun’s place tonight, so sorry.”
“”“!?”””
My bombshell statement sent Lane 3 into an uproar.
Seeing their stunned expressions gave me a sense of satisfaction. I dragged the bewildered Irie out of Spoccha.
“Um… Tsukimi-san? Why—?”
Bungaku, being pulled along, asked, looking completely confused.
“Hiyori and Misuzu asked me to come check on you. That’s all.”
“Oh, I see… That hairstyle…”
“Don’t say anything about this hairstyle.”
“Ah, okay. Um… Wasn’t there another girl?”
“She went home first… She asked me to tell you thank you.”
“I see…”
He smiled, looking relieved.
“Actually, it didn’t go so well… I was having a hard time coming back. You saved me.”
“………………………”
“Turns out, it ended up just like Tsukimi-san said, huh? Ahaha.”
I stopped walking and stared intently at Irie’s face.
“Tsukimi-san…?”
I’m tired of roundabout methods like this time. Besides, I’m sure this guy would reach out to someone like me if they were there.
…Like today.
Even if everyone else laughs at him, without needing anything in return.
So, if Hiyori and Misuzu can’t say it, I have to.
“…Stop hanging out with other girls.”
“…You mean girls from other schools?”
“…Yeah.”
“…I understand.”
Irie nodded, his face clearly reluctant.
“Are you sure it’s okay?”
“…Well, seeing that look on your face, Tsukimi-san, I couldn’t really refuse.”
Huh? What kind of face am I making right now…?
“That look… What kind of look?”
Irie thought for a moment, then said with a wry smile.
“I’m not going to say it because I’ll probably get scolded.”