The School’s Top Idol Is Acting Like She’s My Childhood Friend for Some Reason and Just Keeps Closing the Distance on Her Own…?! ~Stop Getting All Gloomy on Me Just Because I Turned You Down!~
The three hours until lunch break felt unnervingly long.
I knew exactly why.
It was because Hoshimiya had shown me some photos from her work, and I’d made a comment that sounded a bit jealous—and she’d picked up on it.
During class, I pretended to be looking at the blackboard while, in my head, I put myself on trial over and over again.
Defendant: Seita Takahara.
Charge: Making the remark “I didn’t like it very much” regarding a photo shoot that looked like an after-school date with a top active idol.
Verdict: Sentence of “Youth Complex.”
Sentence to be served: Reread I Don’t Need Youth!! (Culture Festival Edition) from Volume 1, and every time the heroine gets jealous of the protagonist, clutch your chest and roll around on the floor.
It’s too harsh.
But it’s fair.
The judge inside me banged the gavel, the prosecutor inside me sharply pointed out, “The defendant is clearly fixated on Rino Hoshimiya,” and the defense attorney inside me struggled to argue, “No, this is merely a temporary episode caused by a ‘Youth Complex.’”
It’s all me.
There’s no hope.
What’s more, Hoshimiya, sitting to my right, unaware of my inner turmoil—or rather, with a look that suggests she’s probably half-guessed it—glances over at me from time to time.
Every time our eyes meet, she smiles.
I wish she’d stop.
That smile gets to me.
The me of yesterday would have just thought, “The top idol’s smile is so bright it’s almost glitchy.” But now it’s different. It’s not just the brightness. There’s heat to it, too. If I look directly at her, my heart feels like it’s being roasted.
I wrote in small letters on the edge of my notebook: “Romantic comedies are meant to be read. Not to be swept up in.”
Below that, I unconsciously started to write, “But Hoshimiya-san is cute,” then hurriedly erased it.
Dangerous.
Even my right hand is starting to be consumed by Hoshimiya.
When lunch break finally arrived, I grabbed my bento and left the classroom.
I was walking faster than usual today.
It’s not like I’m waiting for Hoshimiya.
I’m just going to my home away from home.
My home away from home.
It’s the place Hoshimiya arbitrarily calls a “vacation home,” and lately, even Hara and Shinozaki have found out about it—a place that’s becoming less of a secret base and more of a shared property.
When I arrived behind the warehouse, Hoshimiya wasn’t there yet.
I sat down on a rock and opened my lunchbox.
It was quiet.
In the past, this silence would have put me at ease.
The fact that no one was there.
The fact that no one was watching me.
The fact that I didn’t have to worry about anyone else.
That used to be my salvation.
But now, it feels just a little bit lacking.
The moment I realized that, I nearly dropped my chopsticks.
This is bad.
This is really bad.
My “Sect of Solitude”—where I’ve loved, worshipped, and revered only one person—is being invaded by a pagan goddess named Rino Hoshimiya.
A statue of Hoshimiya has been erected in the temple of my heart without my permission.
And it’s well-made.
It’s high-resolution.
She’s smiling at me in my head all on her own.
“Seita, what are you doing?”
“Whoa!”
Hoshimiya was standing at the entrance.
She was holding her lunch bag and tilting her head slightly.
“You were making a hundred different faces all by yourself.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were. You had a serious look on your face, then suddenly looked flustered, and at the end, you looked a little frustrated.”
“Please don’t watch me.”
Hoshimiya smiled happily and sat down next to me.
The distance between us felt too natural.
Now, she sits next to me without hesitation. As if she believes that’s her spot.
No, she probably does believe it.
Rino Hoshimiya is that kind of girl.
“You’re early today.”
“It’s normal.”
“Did you want to see me?”
“I just came to eat my lunch.”
“So, did you want to eat lunch with me?”
“Stop leading me on.”
Hoshimiya chuckled as she opened her lunchbox.
Her laughter sounded so carefree that I felt the tension in my shoulders ease just a little.
As expected, this time together is soothing.
I don’t want to admit it, but it is soothing.
“Seita, did you read the rest of the ‘I Don’t Need Youth!!’ side story from yesterday?”
“I did.”
“What did you think?”
“The protagonist should take responsibility.”
“Not that again.”
“But it’s true. That heroine’s whole life took a different turn just because of one thing the protagonist said. A protagonist who saves people without realizing it should bear the weight of the person they saved.”
As I spoke passionately, Hoshimiya stopped eating and looked at me.
“It’s convincing coming from you, Seita.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you changed the course of my life a little.”
The fried chicken in my bento almost got stuck in my throat.
“That’s heavy.”
“Yeah. It is heavy.”
“The scariest thing is that you’re aware of it.”
“But you said you wouldn’t run away, Seita.”
“As much as I can, anyway.”
“So, you’re not running away right now, then.”
Hoshimiya said that and gave my sleeve a light pinch.
I felt like there was still a trace of anxiety from yesterday’s photo shoot lingering on her fingertips.
I let out a sigh.
“…Yesterday’s photos.”
“Yeah.”
“They were beautiful.”
Hoshimiya’s hand stopped moving.
“But I didn’t like it very much.”
The moment I said it, my chest grew warm again.
Hoshimiya didn’t say anything.
She just stared at me intently.
“I know it’s natural for you to make that kind of face at work, and I know it’s not my place to say anything. But I didn’t like it, so I said it.”
I looked away.
“That’s all. The defendant’s testimony is concluded.”
“Defendant?”
“Because a trial was taking place inside my head.”
Hoshimiya was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.
The next moment, she set down her lunch box and covered her face with both hands.
“Seita, that’s not fair.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you say something like that, I won’t be able to go to work.”
“Please go. My social credibility will be ruined.”
“I want it to be ruined because of you, Seita.”
“That’s a dangerous thing to say.”
Hoshimiya kept her face covered, her shoulders trembling.
I couldn’t tell if she was laughing, embarrassed, or on the verge of tears.
Eventually, she lifted her face.
Her cheeks were red.
Her eyes were a little moist, too.
“I’m scared that Seita will hate me, but the fact that Seita feels bad because of me… makes me a little happy.”
“Isn’t that awful?”
“Maybe it is.”
Hoshimiya gave a small laugh.
“But it means I know I’m in Seita’s heart.”
Those words carried a lot of weight.
But I wasn’t as scared as I had been before.
If anything, I was starting to understand the meaning of that weight little by little.
Hoshimiya is a celebrity.
She’s seen by so many people.
So many people tell her they like her.
But what she wants isn’t the gaze of an unspecified crowd.
It’s the assurance that she has a place inside me.
Because I understand that, I can’t bring myself to reject her outright.
“Hoshimiya-san.”
“What?”
“I… I don’t think I really understand what it means to be a girlfriend or anything like that yet.”
Hoshimiya’s expression froze for a moment.
A flicker of anxiety fell into the depths of her eyes.
I hurriedly continued.
“But… I’m definitely very aware of you, Hoshimiya-san.”
Hoshimiya froze.
It felt as if even the air behind the warehouse had stopped moving.
I realized what I’d said, and a moment later, I wanted to die.
What was I saying?
Why did I say that?
My teenage insecurities were setting off a fire alarm.
If this were a romantic comedy, the heroine would blush here, the protagonist would blush, and the two of them would grow a little closer. But I’m not like that. In my case, the otaku inside me is going berserk, quoting the famous line, “I don’t need youth!!”
A romance event has triggered.
Don’t pick the wrong option.
There’s no save file.
Life is auto-save.
It’s over.
“Seita.”
Hoshimiya’s voice was trembling.
“Did you really mean that just now?”
“…I shouldn’t have said it.”
“You really did mean it.”
Hoshimiya smiled slowly.
That smile looked like it might shatter from sheer joy.
But at the same time, it was a little scary.
“I’ll remember today for the rest of my life.”
“That’s a heavy burden.”
“It’s your fault, Seita.”
“That might be true.”
Hoshimiya gripped my sleeve.
Her grip was weak, yet she wouldn’t let go.
“It’s okay if you don’t understand what it means to have a girlfriend or anything like that yet.”
She looked at me.
“But if you’re aware of me, that alone is enough to make today okay.”
“So, it’s just today, huh?”
“I might feel anxious again tomorrow.”
“You’re not very efficient.”
“I’m recharging with you.”
“I’m not a power bank.”
Hoshimiya laughed.
Finally, the usual atmosphere was returning.
But I felt like the dynamic between us had changed slightly from what it was before lunch break began.
More than friends.
Less than lovers.
In that ambiguous space, I had taken another step closer to Hoshimiya.
Or maybe I was the one being drawn closer.
But right now, it didn’t matter either way.
The pre-class bell rang.
Hoshimiya let go of my sleeve, looking reluctant to part.
“Seita, think about me this afternoon, too.”
“Please focus on class.”
“You too, Seita.”
“I will.”
“Lie. you will definitely going to think about me”
I wanted to deny it.
But I couldn’t.
On the way back to the classroom, I apologized in my heart to the protagonist of I Don’t Need Youth!!.
I was sorry for calling him clueless and telling him to take responsibility.
Apparently, when a heroine actually throws her intense feelings at you, you can’t function properly.
And I could no longer look away from my real-life heroine, Rino Hoshimiya..
Maigetsu
Would be nice to delve more into his past to be honest