Even though he was rejected by the two most beautiful girls in his grade, for some reason they seemed to be fond of him Volume 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Being a flower on a high peak isn’t easy!!!!!

—The next morning.

Unlike yesterday, I was now staggering to school like a zombie, my legs wobbling beneath me.

Of course, my severe lack of sleep—evident from the dark circles under my eyes—was part of the problem, but...

“Damn it… Why the hell did she actually destroy all my games…? That was just cruel…”

The biggest reason for my current misery was that every single one of my beloved game consoles and cartridges had been completely snapped in half and dumped in the trash.

At that moment, even I nearly blacked out from the shock and despair.

After that, I had the biggest fight with my mom in history. Well, I got my ass handed to me, though. What is she, a gorilla or something? How does a mom beat up her high school son like that?

As I was drowning in my sorrows, I suddenly spotted a familiar couple.

Well, technically, I was the one who confessed, but… the one who set me up for it was one of my show-off friends—Kazuki. And now here he was, holding hands with his girlfriend and flirting away. I wanted to wedge myself between them and karate-chop their interlocked hands apart.

“Tch, those damn lovebirds… Could they not be all over each other in public? I swear, ever since I got rejected, it pisses me off way more than it should.”

“Mm. Agreed. Do it at home.”

“Right?! And they’re doing it right in front of me—the one single friend in our group… They… wait… Oh, I’m not even surprised anymore.”

“Mm. Morning.”

Without a sound, Aira had somehow appeared beside me, casually slipping into our conversation like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I had no idea why she was here, but knowing her, I wouldn’t get an answer even if I asked. Resigning myself to reality, I picked up the pace and sped past that lovebird Kazuki, putting some distance between us.

A moment later, Aira, slightly out of breath, spoke up in her usual monotone.

“Mm. Fast. I’m a girl.”

“So you’re telling me to slow down?”

“No. Just… a little slower.”

Ugh… Those lovebirds are right behind us, you know…? I really don’t want them to see me walking with Aira. If they do, I won’t hear the end of it.

Still, I had a feeling I’d just get talked into it anyway, so I begrudgingly slowed my pace to match hers.

Seeing this, Aira gave a small nod, satisfied.

“Mm. Good.”

“…You’re acting way too high and mighty.”

“I’m better at games than you, Eita.”

“Gu—”

Even without a change in expression, Aira somehow managed to puff out her chest and exude a smug aura. On the other hand, all I could do was grit my teeth in frustration, unable to retort. After all, she had completely wiped the floor with me at the arcade yesterday, winning every single round except one.

“Mm. I’m superior.”

“Don’t get cocky just because you had one lucky streak! If I had my own console, I’d—”

“…Do you?”

“…”

R-right… They were all destroyed yesterday… And I had finally managed to forget about it, only to remind myself again…

Just as my shoulders slumped in despair, Aira spoke up.

“I’ll sell you some. Cheap.”

“Oh, for real?! What do you have?”

“SwOtch PO5, SOS, gaming PC.”

“You have everything?! Please, I’ll take them all!”

“Mm. Two thousand yen for everything.”

“O-oh… Are you a goddess…?”

“Mm. Worship me more.”

“Thank you, Aira-samaaa!”

With a resigned look, Aira placed a hand on my shoulder, and I gazed up at her as if she were a divine being.

Alright, maybe I should start the Church of Aira someday. I’ll be the founder, and our deity shall be none other than Aira Yuzu-sama… Wait, this would totally take off. Probably around 80% of the guys at school would join without hesitation.

As I was entertaining such utterly ridiculous thoughts, I suddenly noticed something.

There were way more eyes on me than usual.

At the same time, last Friday’s… incident resurfaced in my mind, and everything immediately made sense.

Yeah… this is 100% my fault.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy who confessed to both Aira-san and Himeno-san on the same day and got rejected? Why is he walking with Aira-san?”

Two girls from my school, walking slightly ahead of me, were whispering while pointing in my direction.

Whoa, hold on. Did you just refer to me as that guy? Really? Couldn’t you be a little nicer about it? I’m doing my best to survive, you know. Sure, my life’s been nothing but a series of unfortunate events, but still.

“Oh, you’re right. I mean, who even confesses to two girls in a single day? And after getting rejected, he’s still following her around? That’s so creepy.”

“Seriously!”

…Yeah, I can’t even argue with that.

From an outsider’s perspective, I probably look like nothing more than some sleazy flirt. And in this situation, I must seem like a pathetic loser clinging to a girl who turned him down.

But just one thing—just one thing—I need to set straight.

I’M not the one following HER. SHE is the one following ME.

…Not that anyone would believe me if I said it.

Letting out a small sigh, I trudged forward, accepting my miserable fate.

“…The rumors are spreading fast… and in the worst possible way. I just wanna go home already…”

“Don’t. I’m bored.”

“Oh, like I care—”

“Games.”

“…Alright, let’s do this. Time to give today my all!”

And so, while enduring the piercing stares around me and the silent pressure from the beautiful girl beside me, I braced myself for what was sure to be a hellish day at school.

Meanwhile, next to me, Aira was quietly staring at the girls who had just insulted me.

“…Mm. Very unpleasant.”

*

“—Take all of this to the chemistry lab.”

“…My life is already in shambles, you know. I need to go home and sleep this off.”

“That’s not my problem. I heard the rumors… and yeah, this one’s 100% on you.”

The moment homeroom ended, my teacher, Yuzaki, called me to the staff room—only to dump some random errand on me.

Stacked high on his desk were what seemed to be textbooks—so many that I had no clue how many classes they were meant for. If I had to carry all this by myself, it was going to take forever.

Even I wasn’t about to silently accept this ridiculous and unfair treatment.

“Sensei, why me? There are plenty of other students you could ask. Like Kamiyama, or Kamiyama, or, I don’t know… Kamiyama! So yeah, I’ll be heading home now.”

“I have no idea why you have so much faith in Kamiyama, but… didn’t you skip school yesterday?”

…Crap. The tables just turned real fast.

“W-what are you talking about…?”

“Your parents called yesterday. They asked if you actually came to school.”

…This is definitely my brother’s doing. First, he snitched about my skipping, and before that, he ratted me out to Mom about my games. I will get my revenge someday.

As I silently swore vengeance, Yuzaki-sensei clapped a firm hand on my shoulder and gave me a friendly, yet strangely menacing, smile.

“You’ll do it, right?”

“W-wait, let’s be reasonable here—”

“…You do know this affects your report card, don’t you?”

“I WOULD BE HONORED TO HELP.”

And just like that, I crumbled under the weight of the teacher’s authority, sentenced to an extra hour of after-school labor.

“…Finally… it’s over…”

It really did take an entire hour, but somehow, I managed to haul everything to the chemistry lab.

By now, the sun was already setting, casting a deep crimson glow across the room. Paired with my completely lifeless expression, the whole scene exuded a ridiculous sense of melancholy.

“Making me do all of this alone… Does Sensei think I’m his personal servant or something?”

Muttering bitterly, I stumbled out of the chemistry lab and into the hallway.

Not only were the textbooks ridiculously heavy, but the staff room and the chemistry lab were also pretty far apart. For someone like me—a gamer and proud member of the Go-Home Club—this task was brutal. My arms and legs felt like they were about to fall off.

“The second I get home, I’m passing out. No games, no homework… Oh, wait. I don’t have any games anymore.”

Damn it, my thoughts are getting way too negative. If this keeps up, I might end up with full-on corporate drone brain… Ugh, I really don’t want to work in the future.

As I was sinking further into my pathetic, future-neet mindset, I reached the outdoor hallway separating the school building from the field—

—when I suddenly heard a guy’s voice, full of nervous excitement.

“—I really like you. Please go out with me.”

In an era where most confessions happened over DMs or LINE messages, hearing an actual in-person, face-to-face confession was pretty rare.

Guess he’s a romantic. Maybe he reads a lot of shoujo manga? He seems like someone I’d get along with.

Curious despite myself, I sluggishly turned my head in the direction of the voice—zombie-like in both movement and energy.

And what I saw was—

“…I’m sorry, Nagumo-kun. I just… can’t go out with you.”

Standing before me was Himeno Mei—the very girl I had thoroughly embarrassed myself in front of just a few days ago.

And the one who had just been rejected? That would be Nagumo… Something-kun. He was a well-known pretty boy in our grade and apparently constantly competing with Kamiyama Asahi—the guy I considered the ultimate extrovert—for the basketball team’s captaincy.

Yet here he was. A top-tier, certified handsome guy, getting rejected by one of the most beautiful girls in school.

Just like me.

No hesitation, no wiggle room, no chance whatsoever. A clean, absolute rejection.

Holy crap, I feel so refreshed all of a sudden. It’s like all my exhaustion just vanished. Turns out, this world isn’t just about looks after all. Maybe I should have a little more confidence.

Oh, and about what I said earlier—about feeling like I’d get along with this guy? Yeah, scratch that.

Like hell I’d get along with some smug, easy-mode-pretty-boy. Come back and talk to me after you’ve experienced the soul-crushing weight of everyone staring at you like you’re an absolute clown.

While I stood there, a pathetic excuse for a bystander, lost in my petty thoughts, the conversation between them continued.

“…Can you at least tell me why?”

“Um… It’s just that I don’t see you that way. I don’t have feelings for you as a romantic partner. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

Oof. Direct hit. Mei just landed a critical rejection, dealing massive emotional damage to our boy Nagumo.

This was a straight-up fatality.

But to my surprise, Nagumo wasn’t backing down. Instead of crumbling, he grabbed Mei’s arm, desperation written all over his face.

“W-wait! Then… what about giving it a try? Maybe if we just dated for a bit, you’d start seeing me that way!”

“…Ow! You’re hurting me—let go! And besides… I would never date someone who gets rough when things don’t go their way!”

Her voice was sharp, filled with unmistakable disgust as she yanked her arm away. She was done.

But before she could step away—

“Damn it! Why won’t you just say yes?! If that’s how it is, then I’ll just—”

“Ah!”

Nagumo, face twisted in frustration, grabbed both of Mei’s wrists, about to do something—

And then—

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS GUY! OH MY GOD, THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING! GETTING REJECTED AND THEN THROWING A FIT?! COULDN’T BE ME!”

Thinking that I really couldn't just stand by and watch any longer, I stepped out from my hiding spot, pointing at Nagumo and laughing so hard I could barely breathe.

The sudden intruder—me—startled both of them, and they turned to face me, their expressions a mix of shock and confusion.

“Y-you’re… Sasaki?! What the hell are you doing here?!”

“H-holy crap, I c-can’t—pffft! That face—! Pffhaha! S-stop, I c-can’t take it—!!”

“Sasaki, you bastard!!!”

“Aw, c’mon, don’t be so mad—pffft. Okay, okay, my bad. But I mean, what else was I supposed to do? First, I see Mr. ‘Easy-Mode Romance’ get brutally rejected, and then he starts getting all forceful? That was just too much, man. I couldn’t hold it in.”

As I barely managed to get the words out between laughs, Nagumo’s face turned bright red—not sure if from anger or sheer embarrassment. He looked like he’d just spent an hour in a hot spring.

But before I could get lost in that thought, I gave him a solemn nod.

“Listen, man. I get that it sucks. I got rejected too. But resorting to force? That’s just pathetic. And tell me—have you ever been rejected at lightspeed?”

“H-huh? What the hell are you even talking about?”

“Yeah, I figured. With a face like that, you’ve probably never experienced it. Meanwhile, I got rejected so fast that the words ‘I’m sorry’ hit me before I even finished my confession.”

For the record, the one who shut me down at record-breaking speed was Aira.

Honestly, though, maybe because of that, I didn’t really feel that hurt. It was over before I even had time to process it. So really, Himeno-san, you don’t have to look so guilty. That pity in your eyes stings more than the rejection itself.

As I was reminiscing about my own misfortunes, Nagumo suddenly changed his expression. His lips curled into a nasty smirk, and his eyes gleamed with malice.

“…Get lost. Now. Unless you want a certain rumor going around. You really don’t want to underestimate my connections.”

Wow. That was… actually kind of scummy.

Even I was taken aback.

“Dude… Are you serious? That’s such a cliché villain move… You sound like me when I’m trying to weasel out of trouble with my brother.”

“S-shut up! If you don’t want your name dragged through the mud, then get the hell out of here!!!”

“…Go ahead.”

“…Hah?”

“S-Sasaki-kun?!!”

As if my words short-circuited his brain, Nagumo’s jaw dropped in shock, while Himeno-san gasped in disbelief.

“D-do you even realize what you’re saying…?”

“Of course I do. And you know exactly what I mean, don’t you? The whole school already knows there’s some dumbass who confessed to both Aira and Himeno in a single day and got brutally rejected. And that dumbass? Yeah, that’s me. So, honestly? At this point, another bad rumor isn’t gonna change much for me.”

Besides, unlike him, I had someone with actual social influence on my side—Himeno. Compared to him, I was basically a fox borrowing a tiger’s authority.

“So? Looks like you’re the only one with something to lose here. What’s it gonna be?”

I flashed a smug grin, watching as Nagumo clenched his jaw so hard I thought he might break a tooth.

“...Tch! You’d better not tell a damn soul about this!!!”

“Oh, yeah, totally—wait, holy crap, he’s fast?!?!”

Before I could even finish my sentence, Nagumo had already bolted. Damn. Guess he really is serious about basketball, huh?

As I stood there, mildly impressed by his speed, I noticed Himeno-san, her mouth slightly agape, staring blankly into the distance as if her brain had completely shut down.

“Uh, Himeno-san? That face is… um, how do I put this? A beautiful girl really shouldn’t be making that kind of expression. Himeno-saaan?”

“H-huh?! A-ah, um…!”

As Himeno seemed to snap back to reality, she glanced around in confusion before her gaze landed on me—only to quickly avert her eyes, looking uncharacteristically awkward.

Ouch. That kinda stings.

Well, I guess it makes sense. If I were in her shoes and had to face someone I just rejected, I’d probably blurt out a quick “Well then!” and make a run for it.

Not that I’ve ever had the experience of rejecting anyone, of course.

“U-um… Thank you for helping me.”

As I let out a dry chuckle—subconsciously rubbing salt into my own wounds—Himeno, ever the polite one, lowered her head and expressed her gratitude.

But knowing I had just been watching from the shadows before stepping in at the last minute, the guilt hit me harder than expected.

“Ah—uh, it’s really not something you need to thank me for…”

“There’s no need to be modest. If you hadn’t stepped in, I don’t even know what would have happened to me. So, truly—thank you.”

Her words carried a quiet conviction, her gentle smile tinged with sincerity. And in that moment, I kinda started to get why she was so popular with both guys and girls.

But before I got too caught up in admiration, the reality of the situation hit me—I wasn’t used to being thanked so directly, let alone in such a genuine way.

Feeling the heat creeping up my face, I quickly scratched at my head to cover it up.

“…Let’s just call it even.”

“Huh?”

“I mean… I probably caused you a lot of trouble by confessing out of nowhere, so… think of this as my way of making up for it?”

Halfway through my sentence, even I wasn’t sure what I was saying anymore, and the sudden shift to formal speech made it worse.

But hey, for a guy who barely ever talks to girls, I’d say I did a decent job. Good work, me.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is—you don’t have to worry about it. That’s all. Now, I’ve got something my homeroom teacher asked me to do, so I’ll be off!”

No matter how much I tried to play it cool, the awkwardness wasn’t going away. So yeah—best move here? A strategic retreat.

And with that, I threw out a quick excuse and made my swift escape.