Chapter 1 – The Otaku Girl Who Sits Next to Me Confessed
After school in the library――.
The soft light of dusk streamed through the windows, dyeing the bookshelves and desks in shades of orange.
“Kanzaki-kun, I like you. Please go out with me.”
At first, I thought it was some kind of joke.
Someone like me—a fat guy with no friends—getting confessed to? That couldn’t possibly happen. That’s what I had convinced myself.
But from the way her whole body trembled, I could feel how desperately she was mustering her courage.
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t a joke.
Her words, spoken with all her heart, made my chest tighten. For just a moment, I let myself dream of a future.
But I shook my head.
“…Sorry. I can’t go out with you, Tsukishiro-san.”
“I… I see…”
Her tear-blurred profile faded from my view.
The sound of the library door closing echoed far too loudly, and all I could do was watch her back as she walked away.
“Tsukishiro-san… I… I also…”
***
At Aoba High School, two weeks had passed since the entrance ceremony, and the students were finally starting to get used to their new environment.
The conversations that had felt awkward at first were now filled with laughter, and small groups had begun to form all around the classroom.
It was exactly the kind of atmosphere you’d expect during the “making your first friends” period.
When I glanced at the seat next to mine, my eyes were drawn to the girl sitting there—Tsukishiro Rei.
Her black hair reached halfway down her back, shimmering softly in the morning light, catching the breeze and glinting with every sway.
Her well-defined features stirred something in my chest just by looking at them.
When her large, dark eyes met mine, my heart would skip a beat, and I couldn’t help but be drawn to her soft-looking lips.
And more than anything, it was her stunning figure.
Slender shoulders, long and graceful limbs, and curves in perfect balance—she naturally drew everyone’s gaze in the classroom.
The boys were captivated, and the girls sighed enviously.
Just sitting next to her was enough to stir up a buzz around us.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of that.
I remembered.
I—Kanzaki Tsubasa—was confessed to by her a year ago.
Back then, I was in my third year of middle school, and I was ridiculously overweight.
I was socially awkward, broke into a weird sweat whenever I talked to people, and as an otaku, I didn’t have anyone I could call a friend.
In class, they called me “Sweat Daruma.”
One day, while I was alone in the library, completely absorbed in my favorite light novel, someone spoke to me.
“That book’s really good, isn’t it?”
It was… Tsukishiro-san.
Back then, she didn’t have the graceful aura she has now.
She wore glasses and was a timid, plain-looking otaku girl.
But her smile was cute, and being with her felt strangely comforting.
We shared the same hobbies, and we quickly became close.
Talking endlessly about our favorite series and characters became my one and only safe haven――.
But I… I didn’t have any confidence in myself.
If someone like me—“Sweat Daruma”—was seen hanging out with Tsukishiro-san, people would make fun of her.
That was the one thing I couldn’t bear.
It was probably the one and only time in my life someone would confess to me.
Even so, because I cared about her, I had no choice but to step away.
After that, things became awkward between us, and we stopped talking like we used to.
When I think back to who I was then, a small pang of regret and embarrassment lingers deep in my heart.
I hated that version of myself…
Why was I so self-deprecating?
I wanted to change――
I wanted to tell her, “I like you too.”
That’s why I—I mean, I decided to change myself.
First, my appearance.
I cut my long, messy hair, straightened my slouched back, and even changed the way I spoke.
I went on a strict diet, trained my body, and even did some weird mental training.
Just remembering it gives me chills.
I went through hellish days.
With my dad’s help, the body once called “Sweat Daruma” transformed—my abs became defined, I had a sudden growth spurt, and I ended up with a tall, lean figure.
At least in appearance, I looked like a total ikemen extrovert.
After the middle school graduation ceremony, I headed to the classroom where Tsukishiro-san was, determined to finally tell her how I felt.
But the moment I spotted her standing in the crowd, my breath caught.
The girl standing there wasn’t the Tsukishiro Rei I knew.
Her glossy black hair, her radiant aura.
Her smile was dazzling, and her profile in the sunlight looked like a heroine straight out of a romance movie.
It was no wonder the boys were crowding around her, raising their voices.
—She was too cute.
My chest tightened painfully.
Just that alone made all the words I had prepared vanish.
I was supposed to say, “Tsukishiro-san, I like you,” but my legs wouldn’t move.
My voice wouldn’t come out.
I hid behind the classroom door, and all I could do was watch her.
Maybe she didn’t remember me.
Maybe she had already forgotten all about me.
No matter how cool I looked now, I… hadn’t changed at all…
Goodbye, my first love――.
***
――And now.
Even though I had made such a dramatic farewell on my own――
Of all things, I ended up at the same high school, in the same class as her…
What does Tsukishiro-san think about having the guy who rejected her sitting right next to her?
...She probably hates it, right?
Even so――
I never want to regret like I did that day again.
This time, I’ll tell her properly.
――How I feel.