I Was Supposed to Be Giving Love Advice on the School Radio, but Before I Knew It, the Beautiful Girls at School Were Hitting on Me
“Yeah……so don’t worry, I’m having a good time. ……Yeah, I’ll talk to you more when I get back, bye mom.”
After saying a few words, I hung up the phone.
I sat on a bench in a crowded holiday shopping mall, staring at the waves of people coming and going, and let out a breath of fresh air.
My mother is a worrier. It’s probably a normal thing for her daughter to go out with friends on holidays, so she doesn’t need to call me every once in a while.
…Well, in my case, she would be worried.
Let’s be clear, I, Kitahara Yuzuha, have no friends.
It’s not because making friends would lower my personal strength or anything like that. I just don’t like to talk to people.
Well, in my case, it may be too serious to be dismissed as just that…
My mother has been constantly telling me to bring the other people to our house. I tried to cover it up with vague lines like “it’s too soon” or “one of these days,” but I guess that time was not yet.
Far behind me, there was a shout of joy. I look in that direction, but it is probably the hall where I was just a moment ago. There, the boy who brought me here today……
“But I never thought I’d get to go out with that Kageyama kun……”
I still feel like I’m dreaming.
♢
Ever since I entered high school, I have been alone.
Whether it was coming to school, during lunch break, or after school.
I was watching my classmates hanging out around me from afar, thinking that I was fine being alone.
But I couldn’t concentrate on my book if I could hear their voices, so I put on a pair of silent earphones to read my book. Being shut off from the outside world, I was able to read even better than when I was at home.
One day, however, I forgot my earphones. I thought I had forgotten it, but it was already too late. I thought about it a lot, but in the end, I chose to read in the midst of the hustle and bustle of school.
At that moment, the speakers above the class shook.
Immediately afterward, the music came on at a rasping volume.
“Shut up……”
I covered my ears involuntarily, but the people around me didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the music and were talking amongst themselves.
[Hello everyone ! This week’s edition of the Akihito High School noon broadcast has begun again ! Today’s MC is me, Kageyama……]
I knew we had a noon broadcast at our house, but this was the first time I had heard it properly. It made me realize how great my regular earphones were.
[Well, by the way, it seems like I’m the only one here today…even though I’m a first year. Well, when I came to the club room today, I was surrounded by a lot of seniors, and I was the only one who was made to sit in front of the microphone…so, what should I say from here on out… Hey ! Senpai, please help me instead of giving me a thumbs up ! I’m not good at talking…]
Apparently today’s MC is a freshman like me, and his speech is very faltering.
However, I felt a strange kinship with him in that he is not good at speaking, so I decided to listen to today’s broadcast. I couldn’t concentrate on my book in this condition, anyway.
[The next letter from someone……whose radio name is Lactobacillus Even in Death, says, ‘Well, the most shocking thing that happened to me recently was my math score the other day…….I’m usually confident in math, but this time I was shocked that I couldn’t do it for the amount of time I had to prepare’……]
Well, school radio is just like that. I only listen to the car radio, but I don’t find this letter interesting at all.
I don’t think this letter is interesting at all. If it were the usual, it might not even be read. Well, you seem to be a newcomer, so I can’t blame you……
[I get it ! !]
“……!?”
[Well, there is this kind of phenomenon, where you get a pretty good score in a subject you hardly studied, but you can’t do well at all in a subject you worked extremely hard to prepare for ! You feel as if your hard work has been negated, and this is the most damaging thing to your heart !]
As soon as he read the letter, he empathized strongly with the student, saying that he could understand it wholeheartedly.
[But don’t worry ! The amount of effort you put in is definitely connected to your strength, just not reflected in the exam ! In fact, even our upperclassmen grades on the mock exam were terrible because they didn’t study hard enough for the regular math exam……ow !]
A dull sound and a small scream echoed in the classroom as if someone had slapped him.
As I listened to the scene, which was not exactly what I would expect to hear on the radio, I…..
“Fufu.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
[W-well, leaving aside the story of them, I hope that Lactobacillus will not be discouraged and will do your best…..that’s it ! Okay, then, since the seniors’ gaze are getting cold, I would like to read the next letter !]
The MC with his faltering but all-out effort.
It would be too rude to feel too familiar with him. Unlike me, he is doing his best on the radio. When I thought that, I was drawn into his radio more and more.
It was quite natural for me to start sending him letters.
I’m not good at talking to people, but I thought that Kageyama kun would accept me on the radio.
I spent three days and three nights thinking about my pen name and decided to take it from the title of a book I used to read when I was in elementary school. I like books, and it seemed right.
He read my letter. He joked around like a radio show, but he took my letters seriously. I felt like I could talk to him and that he accepted me, so I sent him many letters.
I became a regular on the radio. I was called Deltora, and I felt kind of proud of it…..
The crowd cheered again. I was probably at the end of the question-and-answer session.
“I have to go.”
Enough with the old stories. I brushed the hem off my dress, stood up from the bench, and walked slowly towards the hall.
I never thought I’d see a day like today. I’ve been so lucky to be seated next to him this year. I’ve been really lucky. I hope he has the same luck…
“What’s that?”
As I approach the hall, I see a familiar figure standing up. A gray jacket and brown pants. There is no way I could have mistaken him for Kageyama kun.
No one else is standing up. That means……
“He did it……!”
He must have been chosen in the open recording’s question corner. What luck to be chosen out of that many people. No, it was probably a result of his daily activities.
“Erm, so about the question…….”
I heard a trembling voice and stopped in my tracks. This is the moment he is having a conversation with the person he admires. I shouldn’t be the one to ruin that moment.
Kageyama kun stiffens as he begins to speak. I’m sure he is frantically thinking about which of the questions he has simulated so far to ask. It is painfully obvious that he really likes this radio.
I’m sure that I have the same look on my face when I’m writing to Kageyama kun.
So, at least for now, I make a small prayer to him not to worry about me and to enjoy himself as much as he wants.
“Well, Sangenjaya san? Have you decided?”
Toyama san asks. The sound of his slow intake of breath is picked up by the microphone.
Now, what is he going to ask? Favorite food? Favorite letter? Or maybe he’ll ask about some broadcasting tips he’s working on…..?
“Can you tell me how to cure my shyness……and how to talk to people better?”
“……Eh?”
For a moment, I didn’t understand what he said.
Why? Shyness? How to talk well? Not to talk about his work, or about his own broadcast, or something like that?
…No, the reason he asked this question was clear. I was the one who had to know the answer.
Oh, how stupid he is. Why would he ask such a question when it’s a great opportunity, when it’s a public recording of a radio show he loves, and he’s talking to the MC of his dreams?
I’m already feeling weak from being such a nice guy. No problem, I won’t be in the way around here, so I’ll just squat down.
To miss such an opportunity? Do you really think that would make me happy? I can’t stop sighing. I’m so shocked I can’t speak.
“…..Um, are you all right?”
“Huh?”
I looked up and saw a woman in her twenties calling out to me.
In her hand is…..a handkerchief, for some reason.
“……Oh, you see, you seem to be sitting down and crying, so I was wondering if you’re okay.”
Crying? What is she talking about, I’m just sitting there in dismay at Kageyama kun.
“No, I’m fwine…….”
Hm, why can’t I speak properly?
Thinking this was odd, I wiped my face.
My hands feel wet.
A lady squats down next to me.
“A-are you all right? Did you have a bad day?”
There is no such thing as something bad, I’m not crying because of the pain. I wanted to reply to her that I was fine, but I couldn’t speak properly. Sobs are getting in the way of my reply.
Tears are flowing unceasingly.
“I’m sorry, I’m fine…….”
Finally, I stood up and refused the handkerchief of the still concerned lady.
I take a deep breath, stand up, and turn around.
This is not the time to ask how to cure shyness. My first priority right now is to deal with my face, which is covered in tears.
I want to show the person I love how beautiful I am.
Maitoshi