I Won't Be a Loser

Three days had passed since she fainted. Yet, the images she saw in her dreams that day had not faded with time. Instead, they became clearer in her mind. And with them, her thoughts of Miyamizu Haruto grew stronger.

It felt as if she had truly fallen for him. Every time she closed her eyes, his figure would appear in her mind. In the past few nights, she hadn't experienced that terrifying nightmare again. Instead, she dreamt of many… rather embarrassing scenes.

Now, overhearing the conversation behind her about Haruto and his close relationship with his female neighbor, Eriri—who hadn't dreamt of that part—suddenly became very interested.

"So, Haruto likes petite and cute girls, huh?"

Hearing Haruto's description of Setsuna, Ichika nodded thoughtfully, teasingly glancing at him.

"I don't have a specific type," Haruto replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Whether I like someone depends on our compatibility."

"That was such a serious answer, but I don't dislike it," Ichika said with a playful smirk.

Seeing how Yoshi Akihisa and Sakamoto Yuuji's eyes were starting to turn red with jealousy, Haruto wisely chose not to continue the topic.

Once the bell rang, signaling the start of class, Ichika returned to her seat. Meanwhile, Akihisa and Yuuji threw him a meaningful smile before heading back to theirs.

Haruto had assumed that going back to class and re-learning subjects he had already studied would be an easy task. However, reality hit him hard.

Sure, the material was familiar, and the concepts were easy to understand—if he paid attention. But after just ten minutes of listening, the dull and repetitive lessons made him unbearably sleepy.

Rubbing his temples, he forced himself to focus on the textbook and the teacher at the front of the class. But he felt like a baby being rocked in a cradle, moments away from drifting off.

After somehow surviving the first period, he looked down at his notebook during the break. The first two pages were filled with notes, but the rest was blank. He let out a resigned sigh.

Turning to the classmate behind him, he asked, "Nozaki, can I borrow your notes? I missed some parts."

Nozaki Umetarou, despite being somewhat aloof, was actually a kind person. Without hesitation, he handed Haruto his notebook.

"Sure, here you go."

"Thanks!"

Haruto quickly filled in the missing notes during the break before returning the notebook.

After struggling through math, he surprisingly no longer felt sleepy in the later classes. By lunchtime, he found himself sitting in the school cafeteria, chatting with Nozaki.

"The first period was math, huh?" Nozaki's first remark instantly shut Haruto down. He let out an awkward laugh and changed the subject.

"I saw you resting your head on the desk earlier. Didn't sleep well last night?"

"Yeah… I got caught up with something and ended up staying up late."

"Something?"

"Just a personal hobby, nothing important."

Nozaki didn't press further. He wasn't the type to easily share personal details, and since he still wasn't too familiar with Haruto, he wasn't sure if he could trust him with his secret.

Haruto, of course, knew about Nozaki's secret—he would eventually become a well-known shoujo manga artist. Back in his previous life, he and the rest of the class had been completely shocked to learn this about Nozaki. No one had expected that a tall, stoic-looking guy like him would be the one behind such popular romance comics. It was the perfect example of never judge a book by its cover.

Since Nozaki wasn't revealing anything, Haruto decided not to pry. Any relationship required time to develop. Just like how he and Setsuna had started dating first before—ahem.

He quickly shifted the topic.

Akihisa brought a homemade bento, while Yuuji had grabbed a few packaged buns from the convenience store. Haruto, having woken up late, didn't have time to prepare a lunchbox, nor did he like dry packaged bread. That's why he ended up in the cafeteria. Running into Nozaki and chatting with him turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

That afternoon, as Haruto gazed out the window at the vast blue sky, his mind wandered to Setsuna. He couldn't help but worry about how she was doing—if she was okay at school, if her health had improved…

When classes finally ended, and Haruto was about to head home, two figures suddenly appeared at his sides. Like guardian deities—or rather, prison guards—they each placed a firm hand on his shoulders.

"Yo, Haruto. School's over," Yuuji said, smiling kindly. "Let's go home together."

Looking at the two guys trapping him with their hands firmly gripping his shoulders, Haruto never expected them to still be thinking about this morning's conversation.

"Uh… My actual home is two hours away by bullet train. Maybe I can invite you guys over during summer break?"

"Not your home in Itomori. We're talking about your apartment, Haruto."

Akihisa leaned in with a dark grin. "You're not hiding anything from us… are you?"

Haruto averted his gaze, let out a deep sigh, and surrendered.

"Fine. But there's nothing interesting at my place, so you might be disappointed."

"No worries, we don't mind."

"Yeah, we don't mind at all."

"So then—"

"So then—"

"Lead the way, Haruto" Yuuji and Akihisa said in unison, their grins wickedly gleeful.

— — —