I Won't Be a Loser

If the culprit wasn't acting randomly but deliberately, then when Haruto pretended to leave school, the culprit should have been paying attention to his actions. Once he left the classroom, they would likely wait for a moment when there were fewer people around before making their move.

Haruto purposely lingered at the stairwell, waiting for the right moment. Once he estimated that most students had left, he made his way down from the rooftop stairs and approached his classroom. Peeking inside, he scanned the room.

Empty.

He walked to his desk and looked inside.

Nothing.

"Was it a one-time thing? Or did they get the wrong classroom… or the wrong person?"

Haruto felt a little lost. He remained silent for a moment, staring at his desk. After hesitating for a bit, he glanced at his bag—inside, that soft pink cotton wad still remained. If he put it back in his desk, would the culprit come to retrieve it?

If they did, that would be the ideal outcome. But if they didn't, and someone arrived early the next morning and saw it, then his social life would be over.

After a moment of contemplation, he stared at his desk in silence before letting out a resigned sigh. He simply didn't have the courage to take that gamble.

He wasn't a naïve teenager anymore. He no longer had the luxury of trusting others so easily. More importantly, he couldn't even begin to understand the kind of mindset a high schooler would have to be in to do something like stuffing a pink panty into someone else's desk.

With another sigh, he rubbed his forehead before turning and walking out of the classroom, disappearing down the hall.

Not long after Haruto left, a figure appeared at the classroom entrance. As his silhouette vanished down the stairwell, this person stood there quietly, staring after him before shifting their gaze toward the classroom.

Walking home alone, Haruto still couldn't let it go. He kept thinking—what kind of person would do something so incomprehensible?

"Could it be just some random pervert acting on impulse?"

His brows furrowed. Back in Fumizaki, he had never heard of anything like this. Then again, maybe it was because he wasn't exactly a social butterfly. He had never really paid attention to school gossip.

But now… it seemed he needed to start. Were there any strange rumors circulating at Fumizaki? Something like 'the little girl who gave away underwear"?

"…Actually, that sounds like an interesting story idea. But even if I wrote it, no one would publish it… Hmm?"

Maybe he couldn't, but if he submitted it under someone else's name, it might actually have a shot at getting published in a magazine—and he'd get paid for it.

He didn't know many people in Tokyo yet, but when it came to adults who could help…

Meanwhile, still at work in her office, Mai suddenly felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She turned around instinctively, but the eerie sensation disappeared just as quickly as it came. Frowning slightly, she looked down at her clothes.

"It's not even summer yet, and I'm wearing plenty of layers… Why did I suddenly feel so cold? …Is someone thinking about me?"

If his story got accepted, he'd earn a publication fee. That money could go toward his living expenses. He could even invite Setsuna out for shopping trips and amusement park visits—making good memories together.

Thinking about it, there was no reason why Mai would refuse.

As for the content of the story itself… there probably wasn't much point in hiding it from her.

"Will it leave a bad impression on Mai-san? …Whatever, at this point, impressions don't matter anymore. We've already come this far—I doubt she'd care too much."

As he walked, Haruto was already considering when and how to bring this up with Mai.

Reaching his apartment, he checked the mailbox. It had been over a week since he sent his last manuscript to a magazine, and he hadn't really been expecting a response.

But when he opened the mailbox, he found a thick envelope inside.

He picked it up, scanning the sender's details.

"…A letter from the magazine?"

He paused for a moment before casually closing the mailbox. Holding the envelope in his hand, he stepped into his apartment, heading straight for his room.

Placing his school bag down, he set the letter on his desk and grabbed a small utility knife. Carefully, he slit the envelope open.

Since not all packaging was easy to tear open, he had bought this small knife from a 100-yen store. It was handy for opening things, and he sometimes even used it while cooking.

Opening the envelope, he pulled out a thick booklet—one of the magazine's weekly issues. There was also a reply letter inside, along with…

"Eight thousand yen?"

Four banknotes—one 5,000-yen bill and three 1,000-yen bills—were tucked inside the reply letter. As soon as Haruto took them out, they fluttered lightly into his hands.

Glancing at the reply, the content was straightforward: his work had been accepted and published in the weekly magazine. Along with the magazine itself, they had sent a message encouraging him to submit more high-quality pieces in the future.

"Getting published is nice, but this is way too little."

Haruto recalled that the first time his work had been accepted, the payment had been at least 10,000 yen. But now, it was only 8,000 yen?

"Is it just because of the times, with lower rates now? Or did they see me as a complete newbie?"

Silently, he tucked the 8,000 yen into his wallet. Whatever the case, at least it made his financial situation a little less tight. But he had already made up his mind—he wouldn't be submitting to this magazine again.

"I should talk to Mai-san soon and start refining my older works for submission to adult publishing houses. The earnings from those would be much better than these small articles."

Compared to crafting polished, carefully thought-out short stories, writing adult-themed ones was almost effortless for him. It was as if inspiration struck the moment he put pen to paper.

Back when he was dating Sayuri, she had taught him things he never even knew existed. Haruto had been downright shocked at first, doubting whether she had any prior experience—until she casually revealed that she had only ever seen these things in Eriri's manga. She had never had the chance to try them out before.

At their age, their passions burned hot. Once she had Haruto, she had unleashed all those locked-away fantasies on him.

During that period, he—just a twenty-year-old guy—had been left so drained that even walking felt unsteady.

That experience had, in turn, enriched his writing immensely. Every time he wrote these types of stories, it felt absurdly easy. No matter the theme, he could handle it with ease.

If the topic was high school girls? Sayuri had worn Eriri's unworn outfits more than once.

If the theme was a gentle and elegant young wife? Sayuri had mastered that role effortlessly.

And when Eriri wasn't home, Sayuri had even made Haruto pretend to be a deliveryman. The moment she opened the door, well… cough cough.

Haruto coughed, shaking off those memories. If he kept reminiscing, things would get out of hand. He casually tossed the magazine aside, pulled out a fresh sheet of paper from his drawer, and picked up his pen. Time to start on a new piece.

This time, though, he wasn't planning on writing about his experiences with Sayuri. He wanted to experiment with something milder first—test the waters a little.

Just as he was deep in thought at his desk, the doorbell rang.

Haruto frowned slightly. He had just started writing, but he was already feeling stuck. After a few hundred words, he hit a bottleneck, unsure of how to continue.

His fingers twitched, itching to write something more intense, but he reminded himself of the theme he had decided on. With a sigh, he reluctantly put his pen down, lost in thought.

The ringing of the doorbell snapped him back to reality. He glanced at his manuscript, tidied it up, and slipped it into his drawer before slowly heading toward the entrance.

When he opened the door, he was met with a familiar sight.

Standing there were not just Setsuna, whom he saw almost every morning, but also Saionji Sekai and Katsura Kotonoha.

The three girls stood at his doorstep, looking at him expectantly.

"Well, this is unexpected. I thought it was just Setsuna… What brings you all here?"

"Since we had a lot of free time after school and didn't know what to do, we thought we'd drop by and visit you. Is that okay?"

Standing at the front, Setsuna looked up at him with her usual calm expression. Haruto didn't have any pressing matters at the moment, so he simply nodded in agreement, stepping aside to let them in.

"Come in."

"Then, excuse us," Sekai said with a smile as she stepped into his apartment.

Kotonoha, on the other hand, seemed a little shy. She followed behind the other two, and when she passed Haruto, she politely bowed before quietly stepping inside.