Translator: Haruto.

How the Listless Gyaru Yukikawa-san
Started Coming Over After Class.

Anime and manga are like my raison d’être.

I’d already collected countless titles by the time I graduated from middle school, and as soon as I moved into my own apartment when I entered high school, I stocked the place up with more of my beloved treasures.

I can’t wait to get home…

A week or so has passed since my first year of high school began. Class 1-A is currently bustling with energy as our last period of the day has finally come to an end. Students are rushing here and there to go hang out with their respective social groups since doing so allows them to deepen their bonds and bring more light into their high school lives.

In contrast, however, I, Nagai Kentarou, am packing my stuff in complete solitude and silence to dip out of here as soon as possible. The reason is, of course, that I don’t belong to any of those social groups—I didn’t even try to join one. I’ve never been much of a social butterfly. Instead of having to walk on eggshells around other people, I want to spend my time thinking about the plot of some new popular manga.

Let’s see, today I’ll go grab the newest volume of that manga… rewatch the episode that aired last night, and…

Man, the life of an otaku is truly quite hectic. I have to leave now if I want to make the most of my day.

I then sling my backpack over my shoulder, but before I manage to get up—

“Say, which karaoke place is the cheapest around here?”

“Big Mic, I think. It’s the one in front of the station. You can rent a room for cheap with no time limit.”

“For real? Let’s go there, then.”

Such a conversation reaches my ears from behind my seat. I instantly identify the voices as belonging to the group of students that stand at the top of this class’s hierarchy, and who I like to call the “Cool Kids.”

“I’ve been dying to sing for like forever!”

The girl talking in that sweet and foxy tone of voice is Momoki Haruru. She’s an outgoing gyaru who’s dyed her hair completely pink. This school doesn’t place any restrictions on our hair color so it’s fine for her to keep it that way.

“I feel ya. I also get the urge to just sing my heart out sometimes,” a guy—Kijima Kouichi—replies to Momoki’s comment.

He’s a crazy good-looking dude who lives for sports—according to some rumors he’s even been attending a boxing gym since he was in middle school—and someone who’s pretty intimidating… from my perspective, anyway.

There’s one more important member of their group apart from Momoki and Kijima, though—the girl who stands as their central figure.

“You wanna go there, too, Tsukino?”

“…Hm? Sure, anywhere is fine.”

Yukikawa Tsukino.

She’s the leader of the “Cool Kids,” and as such, she has the final say on all their decisions. As to why that is, well, it’s actually pretty simple: her beauty is far greater than that of any other high school student. She has a generous chest, well-defined hips, long legs that emerge from her short skirt, and silky silver hair, to say nothing of her fair skin and her light-blue eyes. It’s like she’s a fictional character or something. But there’s more, from what I’ve overheard, she’s mixed-blood, has lived overseas and her family is pretty wealthy.

Honestly, the worlds we belong to are so far apart that I try to not even think about her. Yukikawa is to me like some celebrity that only exists on the other side of a TV screen.

“Yay! We’ll go to Big Mic, then!” It seems they’ve come to a decision.

I stand up from my seat after having listened in on their conversation to the end.

Saying that I wasn’t in the least jealous of them would be a lie. Humans are social creatures, after all. I like my solitude, but I doubt I’ll be able to spend my whole life this way.

“Ah! You wanna tag along, too? Um, Nagai, was it?” Momoki asks me all of a sudden.

“…Whah?” I blurt out some weird sound, having been caught off guard.

“Did you hear that? He went all ‘whah.’ Hilarious.”

I don’t know what’s so hilarious about it, but Momoki is laughing for some reason.

That aside, though, it seems a member of the Cool Kids is inviting me to hang out with them. Their entire group is looking at me, but not everyone seems very welcoming. Some of them have looks in their eyes that say, “Why would she even invite that guy?” Those looks help me regain my cool.

I take a deep breath and rein in my emotions. “Sorry, I’ve got somewhere to—”

“I know! Why don’t we just invite the entire class?! It’ll be like a party! I’m a freaking genius!”

Unfortunately, Momoki and I are not that close, so I can’t yell “Listen to what people are saying!!” as much as I would like to.

The moment she suggested inviting the whole class, the shoulders of all my classmates perked up.  

“You guys wanna come with us, right?” Momoki asks, addressing the entire classroom.

One beat later, droves of people gather around her in a rush.

I got caught up in the mob so now I’m unable to move. I would have to basically push my way out to leave the classroom.

“Can we really tag along?!”

“Ohh! We’re so in!!”

“That’s the spirit! Let’s see, we’ll be around thirty, so… I wonder if they’ll let such a big group in. Oh well, I’ll just give them a call and find out!” Momoki says, grabbing her phone and starting a call.

Ah, shoot, it seems I’ll really get dragged along with them.

I must say, though, it’s impressive how she even considered taking these many people to Karaoke.

…And man, they’re quite desperate to join their group, huh…

Even if I’m the only one who calls them the “Cool Kids,” all of my classmates fully understand that these guys stand at the top of the hierarchy. There’s just no one in this class with better looks and more influence than them. That’s why every student here dreams of becoming one of them. In fact, it’s obvious how the eyes of the people gathering around Momoki right now are all filled with hope at the prospect of getting close to them.

“Okay, I was able to book a huge room for us. Time to head out!”

Everyone then picks up their bags and begins leaving the classroom.

Yeah, it’s kind of hard for me to refuse her invitation now. I want to continue spending my time alone for as long as I can, but I’d also like to avoid being treated as a nuisance.  

“…Hey, Nagai.”

“Huh?”

As I’m about to follow my classmates out, I hear someone call my name from behind, and turn around. It’s none other than Yukikawa Tsukino, the most popular girl in the class.  

“Be honest, you don’t really want to go, do you?” she asks me.

“…What?”

“I don’t know, I might be wrong, but… that’s what it seems,” Yukikawa says, peering into my eyes.

I honestly don’t know what to tell her. It’s at times like this that I wish I was more of a smooth talker.  

“Haru—I mean, Momoki can be a bit pushy at times so if you don’t want to go, you need to be clear with her and say so.”

I see, Yukikawa is concerned about me. She might look cold and listless at first glance, but I guess she’s actually a kind girl.

“…Don’t worry. I want to go.”

“Really? Okay, then,” she replies, tilting her head slightly, and then follows everyone else outside.

It’s true that I wanted to refuse Momoki’s invitation a moment ago, but having seen this new side of Yukikawa, I’ve grown somewhat interested in her. I’m not getting carried away, of course—I’m not attempting to get close to her or anything like that. She just gave me the motivation to try doing something different today.

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