CBGBE 02

Chapter – 02

A Pain in the Neck

“This person is my boyfriend. So it’s not happening.”

At Koyatori’s words, time seemed to stop for a moment.

The students who had been about to leave also stopped in their tracks, looking at Koyatori—who had declared it so boldly—and then at me.

…What the hell is this? What just happened?

“H-hey, Koyatori. What are you—”

“Shut up.”

“Wait, wait, there’s no way I can just—”

“Shut. Up.”

“Y-yes, ma’am.”

Left with no choice but to obey, I let out a small huff of annoyance.

Finally, the third party spoke up.

“Hey, hey, what kind of joke is this? I heard you didn’t have a boyfriend, right?”

“I do now. That’s all there is to it.”

“L-like I can believe that! And besides, some plain-looking guy like him, with a catch like you…”

“Could you not meddle in my values? Sure, this guy is plain, uninteresting, and looks like he’s destined to be single for life, but he’s still my boyfriend. And it’s not necessary for both parties in a relationship to be on the same level, you know.”

Isn’t that a bit much?

Why do I get made her boyfriend without my consent, and then on top of that, get insulted?

I may be many things, but I’m not a masochist.

“Hah! Bad taste.”

“I’m well aware.”

The guy laughed mockingly, as if brushing it off.

“Ah, yeah, you two are perfect for each other! Both of you are completely nuts!”

“Thank you.”

Suddenly, the guy shifted his aggression toward me and our eyes met.

“…Wait, I thought I’d seen you somewhere before—you’re that guy from last year’s culture festival!”

Oh, so even people I have zero connection with know my face.

School really is small. Point proven.

“Some crazy bastard like this is your boyfriend? You’ve got no taste, seriously! Ahaha! That’s hilarious!”

What a brutal way to flip the script.

But Koyatori stood her ground, glaring at the guy with unwavering eyes.

The guy let out an exasperated sigh and, with a mocking smile, threw out his parting words.

“Two screwballs together—wish you all the best.”

“Move it, asshole!” he barked, shoving through the crowd and striding off.

What a disgustingly unpleasant way to end things.

“He wished us happiness.”

“I don’t recall giving you permission to keep talking, do I? And you can’t even follow that—maybe the ‘screwball’ label isn’t so far off after all.”

“Why the hell would I obediently follow your orders? Also, you got called a screwball too, you know.”

“Coming from someone who’s actually a screwball, that lacks credibility.”

Every single person here is nuts. So far, anyway.

“So why did I get dragged into this? And what’s this about me being your boyfriend?”

“Because you were there. Is there any other reason I’d need?”

“I’m asking because I want to hear a reason other than that, you know?”

“You can’t figure that much out on your own? Are you really a high school student?”

“When adults talk to kids, they lower themselves to the kid’s eye level, right? Same thing—it’s common sense for capable people to accommodate those who aren’t.”

“Then humanity would never grow. Rise up to my level.”

“There are no stairs.”

No matter how much we talk, I’m sure Koyatori and I will never see eye to eye.

Well, honestly, I already understand why she set me up as her boyfriend, and I don’t really need any further testimony from her.

So this line of questioning is over.

“Well, whatever. I just got dragged in front of that guy and badmouthed by both of you—wait, not ‘just,’ ‘also.'”

“Don’t worry. I only said what I think and what that guy thinks.”

“How is that ‘don’t worry’?”

“Because it’s fine, right? You don’t actually care.”

Her eyes, as if seeing through everything, sized me up.

I see. Koyatori is even more of a pain in the ass than I imagined.

“Even if I don’t care, my mind still gets worn down subconsciously.”

“Really? If something this small wears you down, you’d have stopped coming to school a long time ago, wouldn’t you?”

Right. She knows about that too.

Koyatori’s in the same grade, so it’s only natural that she’d know, but still.

“The truth is, nobody’s noticed that I soak my pillow every night.”

“You should wash it properly, you know? Keeping your pillow clean is pretty important.”

“Can you not take everything so literally? And for the record, I do wash my pillow.”

“I see.”

Arms crossed in front of her chest, Koyatori glared at me with sharp eyes.

Glaring at someone she’s making eye contact with seems to be her default stance.

Come to think of it, I’ve only ever seen that sulky, prickly expression on her face.

“Anyway, stop randomly picking up guys and calling them your boyfriend from now on, got it?”

“Could you rephrase that? It makes me sound like some kind of slut.”

“That’s just what happened, without any exaggeration. There’s no changing it.”

“You’re really quite tiresome, you know.”

“Right back at you.”

Koyatori grimaced at my words.

Does she not realize she’s a pain in the ass herself? If not, she really needs to take a good look at herself. Her self-assessment is way off.

“Oh, look at the time. I’m heading home. I don’t have time to waste.”

“You really do have an extra jab for everything, don’t you?”

With a huff, she turned on her heel and headed back into the school building.

“See you later—Fuyunose Rintarou.”

Leaving those words behind, Koyatori disappeared.

This probably won’t be the last I see of her.

A baseless预感 lingered in my head like an unsettling feeling.

I realized that预感 was right on the mark not too long after.

◆ ◇ ◆

The next day.

“Fwaah.”

I stifled a yawn as I walked down the morning hallway.

“Hey, hey, that’s the guy.”

“And he’s the one from that incident, right?”

“No way?! But there are so many better-looking guys…”

Today, I’m drawing way more attention than usual.

For a moment, I thought maybe my uncombed bedhead was particularly distinctive—but I suppose I’m an idiot for even considering that.

—Something was off.

Yes. Clearly, this wasn’t normal.

I passed by students whispering without a care, and soon my destination classroom came into view.

As I approached the classroom next door, I happened to lock eyes with a female student who was coming out of that room.

“Good morning.”

“…M-morning.”

Why did Koyatori just greet me?

And on top of that, she didn’t glare at me for once.

If anything, she even had a gentle expression on her face—which was obviously creepy.

With the faintest smirk curling at the corner of her mouth, she passed right by me.

I was left behind, dumbfounded.

Why am I getting this much attention from everyone around me?

And why did Koyatori greet me?

“…I’m definitely in for some kind of trouble.”

The answer was all too easy to imagine, and I couldn’t help but drop my shoulders in defeat.