NTR Kousuke

Chapter 23

Helping Airi-senpai makes me think.

How cute she is, so efficient, and her chest is so bouncy!

Everyone likes her, she's perfect at manager duties, and she's so calm and mature.

I can't compete with anything except the bouncy chest part.

...And even that's just because I'm overweight...

The guy I confessed to, back when we were in junior high, helped me in front of everyone when I was teased for being fat, and ever since then, I've liked him.

He was a cool, popular guy with the girls, and when I passed the entrance exam for Hokusho, the same school he aimed for, I was so, so happy.

I really wanted to confess after losing weight, but... during summer break, when I came to school for something, I ran into him by chance, and in my confusion while talking after so long, I ended up confessing.

He rejected me instantly without a second thought, saying I'm not his type... and on top of that, it seems he told someone, because someone like Kousuke-kun's ex-girlfriend is spreading rumors about it for laughs.

I want to change myself.

This plan to transform myself started when I forced Kousuke-kun, who happened to pass by at the time, to listen to my complaints.

I'd give up right away if I were alone. So, unless I'm in this setup where everyone watches over and encourages me, I wouldn't be able to do it.

That's why, to Kousuke-kun...

I'm grateful to Kousuke-kun for helping me during my toughest times and sticking with me through my diet... and, no, I don't have the right to say it yet.

My ideal image.

Lose weight, become pretty, while keeping the bouncy part.

Gain confidence, learn to love myself, and then be loved by everyone.

Then, I could show him and maybe Mishima-san up, and get a little closer to Kousuke-kun... maybe? That's the kind of daydream I've been having.

The woman who embodies that ideal image is right in front of me now.

Airi-senpai, a second-year student.

She has a boyfriend, but she's famously one of the most beautiful girls in school.

Yet she's also great at looking after others, like an older sister figure adored by the club members.

She's truly an amazing woman; I want to become like her...!

Kousuke-kun has been doing heavy lifting since earlier!

I was helping too, but now I'm on a break.

Airi: "...Tomonaga-san. You and Kousuke-kun are pretty close, huh?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question,

"Ah, yes."

What a dumb response!

Airi-senpai looks a little down as she continues,

Airi: "...With me, Kousuke-kun... seems tense. But with Tomonaga-san, he doesn't, right...?"

Airi-senpai's face looks so complicated.

She can even make such a melancholic expression! Beautiful people are amazing.

"Huh? No... I think Kousuke-kun just doesn't see me that way..."

I say, feeling a bit down myself.

Since we run and do walking together, we talk a lot, so I can tell.

I'm fat, so he probably doesn't even see me as a girl.

I'm only grateful to Kousuke-kun for sticking with a girl like me, working hard to encourage me.

Airi: "That's not true. When Kousuke-kun came to me asking for help with you, Tomonaga-san, he was so desperate. It was an expression I'd never seen before."

My voice comes out louder than I expected!

"Huh?! Really? ...I hope that's true... But during our diet, he talked a lot about you, Airi-senpai."

It's true; he asks Airi-senpai about everything, like basketball stuff.

I'm a little jealous.

Airi: "Eh? Really? If that's true, I'm kinda happy!"

Airi-senpai twists her body with a little "ufu!" So cute.

Hehe! Kousuke-kun, you know, he's got more expressions than you'd think, right?

Ah! I get it!

That time, too...

He's quiet, but when you get him talking...

Right? He's surprisingly passionate!

His eyelashes are so long!

His features are kinda girly, too!

Before I knew it, the two of us were giggling and getting excited over Kousuke-kun topics.

By the time Kousuke-kun came back, we'd grown even closer.

(But if Airi-senpai were... a rival, it'd be really...

I'm glad she has a boyfriend! I wouldn't stand a chance against her!)

Just as I'm thinking that and feeling relieved, a shocking statement comes,

Airi: "Oh, Tomonaga-san, I broke up with my boyfriend. Keep it a secret until after summer break, okay♪"

Her cute wink, with a little snap, had an absolute charm that even captivated me, a girl.

Airi Tendou, the famously beautiful girl at school... she's really something.

He's going to be taken! That's what I thought.

Taken? Even though he's not mine?

...Do I like Kousuke-kun?

Even though I just got rejected recently...

I don't know if my head's not working because of the diet, or if I'm just a fickle girl, but more than the guy who rejected me, right now I want Kousuke-kun's heart.

I saw my own feelings clearly.

He was someone I admired.

Kousuke-kun is my goal.

Similar, yet on a different vector, I turn my feelings into strength.

For the first time, I thought, I want to achieve something!

That was a new me. If I become pretty! If I change! I'm sure I can reach it!

From that day, I started doing extra training without being told to.

Because I realized that it's a step toward my ideal, to reach the one I admire and my goal.