My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected

Yuihama's expression twitched after hearing me.

"H-how could you call me an idiot... Do you even remember who that was?"

"I was in so much pain, I didn't have time to remember! But if you have no impression of them, they must have been someone unremarkable."

"No, unremarkable... I wasn't wearing makeup then... and I hadn't dyed my hair yet. I was also just wearing pajamas... Ah, that bear pajama set might have really made me look like an idiot."

Yuihama's voice was too quiet for me to hear, I could only see her lowering her head and muttering to herself. Was her stomach upset?

"What is it?"

"Nothing... Anyway, you don't remember that girl, right?"

"I already told you I don't remember... Wait, did I say it was a girl?"

"Hmph! Ah, you did, you did! You definitely said it! You kept calling her a 'girl'!"

"How disgusting can I be?"

Yuihama laughed it off with a "hahaha," then turned to look at the tennis court, and I followed her gaze. The female tennis club members, who had been practicing earlier, were walking back while wiping sweat.

"Hey~~ Saika~~"

Yuihama waved hello; they seemed to know each other.

The girl noticed Yuihama and quickly ran over.

"Hi, Saika, were you practicing?"

"Yeah, our club is pretty weak, so we have to practice during lunch too... I'd been asking the school for a while, and they finally gave me permission to use the tennis court during lunch recently. What are you and Hachiman doing here?"

"Nothing much."

After Yuihama finished speaking, she turned and looked at me with her eyes, asking "Right?". No, I came here for lunch, and you were going to buy juice. Are you a chicken? How could your memory be so bad? (In Japan, chickens are used to symbolize poor memory.)

"I see."

The girl named "Saika" smiled.

"Saika, you were playing tennis during class and still practicing during lunch. That must be tough."

"It's okay, because I love playing tennis. Speaking of which, Hachiman, you play tennis really well."

The topic suddenly shifted to me, and I fell silent. This was the first I'd heard of it, and who are you? Why do you know my name?

I had a bunch of questions I wanted to ask her, but Yuihama beat me to it with an exclamation.

"Eh~~ Really?"

"Yeah, Hachiman's posture when he plays is very standard."

"Oh my~~ I'm so embarrassed, hahahahaha... So, who is she?"

I deliberately lowered my voice on the last few words, so only Yuihama could hear, but her specialty was ruining my plans.

"What? Saika is in your class! Don't you have P.E. together? How can you still not remember her name? I can't believe it!"

"Are you an idiot? Don't spout nonsense, I remember perfectly well, I just forgot for a moment! Besides, P.E. is separated by gender."

She had ruined my plan to diffuse the awkwardness, so the other person would know. What if she got upset? I looked at Saika and saw that her eyes were already filled with tears. This was bad; that look was incredibly powerful, so cute it made you want to protect her. If she were a dog, she'd be a chihuahua; if she were a cat, she'd be a munchkin.

"Ah, ahaha, you really don't remember my name... I'm Totsuka Saika, your classmate."

"I'm sorry, I just changed classes recently, so that's why..."

"I was in the same class as you in first grade too... Hehe, it's because I don't have much of a presence..."

"That's not true, that's not true! Right, it's because I don't interact much with the girls in my class. If anything, I don't even know their full names."

"Remember me!"

Yuihama hit me on the head. Seeing this, Totsuka said mournfully, "You and Yuihama-san have such a good relationship..."

"W-what? Our relationship isn't good at all! I only feel murderous intent towards him! Like I'd kill him and then die with him!"

"That's right, that's right-- That's terrifying! Love turning into a double suicide is too heavy!"

"What? Are, are you an idiot? That's not what I meant!"

"You two really have a good relationship..."

Totsuka said softly, turning his gaze back to me.

"Also, I'm actually a boy... Do I look that fragile?"

"Eh?"

I immediately stopped all movement and thought, and quickly looked at Yuihama, asking with my eyes, "Is this a lie?", but Yuihama nodded in response. Her cheeks were flushed red, probably still angry from earlier.

What~~ Really? Don't lie to me! This must be a joke, right?

Totsuka noticed the doubt in my eyes and lowered his head, blushing, his eyes looking up at me slightly.

His hands slowly reached towards his gym shorts, his movements strangely graceful.

"...I can prove it to you."

My heart wavered.

The devil Hachiman whispered in my right ear, "It's fine, let him take it off~~ Maybe something good will happen!" That made sense, opportunities like this were indeed rare. "Wait a moment!" Oh, an angel appeared. "If he's going to take it off, why not ask him to take off his upper body too?" What do you mean, "why not"? Aren't you an angel?

In the end, I decided to trust my own reason.

That's right, characters whose gender is unclear are precisely because their gender is unclear that they are charming. Reason led me to make a calm judgment.

"Anyway, I'm sorry. Even though it's because we don't know each other well, it ultimately made you uncomfortable."

After I apologized, Totsuka shook his head, wiping the tears from his eyes, and smiled.

"No, it's okay."

"Speaking of which, how did you know my name?"

"Huh? Ah, it's because Hachiman is very noticeable."

Hearing Totsuka say that, Yuihama turned and stared at me intently.

"What~~ He should be very unnoticeable, right? Unless something special happens, no one would even notice him."

"Idiot, I'm very noticeable, okay? Just as noticeable as a Kira Star."

"How are you noticeable?"

Yuihama asked with a serious expression.

"... Being alone in the corner of the classroom makes you stand out, doesn't it?"

"Ah, that is indeed quite noticeable... No, it's not that, sorry."

She immediately looked away, but that attitude was even more hurtful.

Seeing the atmosphere turn heavy, Totsuka quickly jumped in to smooth things over.

"By the way, Hachiman, you play tennis very well. Did you learn it before?"

"I only played Mario Tennis when I was in elementary school, I've never really played before."

"Ah, that party game, right? I've played it too, doubles is super fun!"

"... I could only play by myself."

"Huh... Ah... I'm sorry."

"What's with you, why are you stepping on all my emotional landmines? Are you some kind of trauma excavation expert?"

"You're the one who buried too many landmines!"

Totsuka watched Hachiman and Yuihama bicker with amusement.

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break.

"Let's go back."

Totsuka said, and Yuihama followed.

I suddenly had a strange feeling.

Yes, we were in the same class, so it was natural to go back to the classroom together, but at this moment, I couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"Shut-in, what are you still doing?"

Yuihama looked back at me in confusion, and Totsuka also stopped and looked at me.

Can I walk with you guys? I wanted to ask, but decided against it.

So, I changed my words.

"Aren't you going to run errands to buy drinks?"

"Ah? Oh no!"

× × ×

A few days later, it was time for P.E. class again.

After repeated practice, I gradually became an expert at hitting against the wall, reaching a level where my feet didn't need to move at all.

Starting tomorrow, P.E. class would begin practice matches. In other words, today was the last practice session.

Just as I wanted to seize the last opportunity to swing my racket to my heart's content, someone poked my right shoulder.

Who is it? A ghost? No one would want to talk to me, could I be hallucinating?

I turned my head, and my right cheek was poked by fingers.

"Haha, you fell for it."

It turned out to be Totsuka Saika, who was smiling adorably.

Huh~~ Strange, what is this feeling? Why is my heart pounding non-stop? If he weren't a boy, I would have confessed to him and been rejected already. Huh? Would I really be rejected?

If you've seen Totsuka in his uniform, you'd know he's a boy, but when he changes into the same sportswear for boys and girls, you really can't tell. If he wasn't wearing athletic socks on his feet but black stockings, I definitely wouldn't be able to tell.

Totsuka's arms, waist, and legs were all slender, and his skin was very fair.

It's just a shame his chest wasn't well-endowed, but Yukino's chest was about the same size as his.

In an instant, I felt a chill run down my spine.

This brought me back to my senses, and I spoke to Totsuka, who was smiling.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um, my usual practice partner is absent today, so... if you don't mind, would you like to practice with me?"

Don't look at me with those slightly upturned eyes, you're too cute! My cheeks aren't allowed to turn red!

"Oh, sure, I'm alone anyway."

Sorry, wall, I can't keep practicing with you...

After apologizing to the wall, I agreed to Totsuka's request. He seemed relieved, letting out a sigh, and quietly said, "I'm so nervous." Hearing him say that made me even more nervous than he was. He's just too adorable.

Yuihama mentioned that some girls call the lovable Totsuka "Prince." I see, Totsuka is as cute as any girl, a beautiful boy, and this nickname really suits him. The word "Prince" probably also implies a desire to "protect him."

And so, Totsuka and I began our practice match.

As expected of a tennis club member, his skills were quite good.

I had learned to serve accurately by practicing with the wall, and he expertly returned every ball, hitting it straight back in front of me. After a few rounds, Totsuka seemed to find it boring to just play in silence and started talking to me.

"Hachiman, you're really good."

Because of the distance between us, Totsuka's voice sounded a bit slow.

"It's because I've been practicing with the wall, I've gotten used to the ball."

"That's squash, not tennis."

We chatted like this while continuing our rally. While others made mistakes from time to time, we never faltered. At this point, Totsuka caught a bouncing tennis ball and paused our game.

"Let's take a short break."

"Okay."

We both sat down. But why are we sitting side-by-side? Isn't that strange? Usually, friends of the same gender sit facing each other or diagonally, right? Isn't this distance a bit too close? Is it? Is it?