My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As Expected

The evidence was conclusive. There was no denying it.

During that year and three months that had been stolen from her memory, an unfamiliar soul had entered Yukino's body and done all sorts of terrible things in her place, dragging her reputation at school down to the level of outright hatred.

To put it in the popular terms of the internet, she'd been possessed—someone from another world had been reborn in her body.

Why had she been possessed?

And could it happen again in the future?

As Yukino left the school forum without changing expression, she must have triggered a keyword, because the voice responded again.

[The system has identified the best option for avoiding possession: Through a series of selection tasks, perfectly turn around your Negative Image in the eyes of High Popularity Characters.]

What did "High Popularity Characters" mean? Social Butterflies?

In other words, if she didn't turn things around as soon as possible, she might be possessed again by some soul whose intentions—malicious or benevolent—were unknown.

A bone-chilling sensation crawled up her spine.

No.

She would never allow that.

When Yukino Yukinoshita returned to the classroom after lunch, she wasn't surprised to see that her desk had been doused with dirty water.

Her expression calm, she took out her phone and snapped a photo, watched by everyone eager to see what would happen.

She looked nothing like someone being bullied.

The laughter around the classroom gradually died down.

After putting away her phone, Yukino turned to the ringleader of this farce. "If something like this happens again, Haru Takada will be the first person I hold responsible."

The villainess, Haru Takada, scoffed. "I'm telling you, Yukinoshita, what makes you think—"

"Rumors about relationships are just hearsay. Bullying at school is an actual crime. Teacher Sanwa hasn't done anything because he thinks I'm the source of the trouble, but the Guardian Association won't see it that way. Isn't that right, Teacher Sanwa?"

In Japan, the Guardian Association had considerable authority to interfere in every school in its region. They could stick their noses into anything, from the length of a school's skirts to a teacher's reputation.

If a bullying incident blew up, it wouldn't just be students who had to bow and resign. Teachers would, too.

The middle-aged teacher, who had just walked into the classroom, parted his lips. "Yukinoshita..."

Haru Takada folded her arms, looking unconvinced. "The Guardian Association won't care about someone who's thrown her life away."

Without even lifting her eyelids, Yukino replied, "As it happens, my mother is one of the Guardian Association's representatives."

Japanese schools had a ridiculous unspoken rule: even when bullying took place, the bully and the victim were expected to share an understanding.

Don't tell your parents. Don't tell your teachers.

Cross that line, and you'd be mocked as a coward who could only tattle, someone who'd broken the rules. Then the bullying would get even worse, or you'd be completely ostracized.

Yukino thought that rule was laughable.

Even she didn't want to involve her parents unless she absolutely had to, but that was because she was extremely bad at dealing with her mother.

[The first rule of avoiding bullying: You have to look stronger than everyone else.] —Yukino, an experienced Anti-Bullying expert.

Teacher Sanwa tried to smooth things over. "Yukinoshita..."

The girl's gaze, cold as lightning, stabbed into him. "If you don't want to resign, then be quiet."

Yukino was in an absolutely foul mood.

She'd woken up to find her wonderful high school life in ruins. Her hair had turned blonde, her reputation was trashed, and a bunch of clueless idiots were trying to bully her.

Fine. You liked playing games, did you?

Then she'd show them what the real, ruthless world of adults was like!

The whole class fell silent.

"If anything like this happens again, whether in our class or another, I'll report it to the Guardian Association without hesitation. Whoever needs to be disciplined will be disciplined, and whoever needs to bow and resign will bow and resign."

"And the Yukinoshita Corporation will send all of you a Lawyer Letter. Believe me, you won't win against a team of twenty lawyers."

Teacher Sanwa was completely dumbfounded.

Yukinoshita, from the international studies class Year 2 Class J, was well known. She looked like an unapproachable delinquent, with a head of blonde hair, but when she wasn't flirting with boys, she was actually quiet—shy, even. She seemed easy to pick on.

Teacher Sanwa hated how she set a bad example for the class. He'd turned a blind eye to the fact that she was being bullied.

Before this, she'd never mentioned her family's background.

Sanwa was practically on the verge of tears. If she'd told him, how could he have let the bullying in the class grow so out of hand?

Finally, Yukino looked toward Haru Takada, her tone mocking. "You people aren't stupid enough to think you can get away with it as long as no one sees you, are you? You don't really think the police fingerprint database is just sitting around doing nothing, do you?"

The villainess's nameless lackey nearly cried from fright.

Only after thoroughly scaring them did Yukino find a rag, calmly wipe the dirty water off her desk, and start listening to the lesson.

Then she realized she couldn't understand it.

Yukino: "..."

It wasn't that she'd gotten stupid. This was material from more than a year in the future.

Damn that body snatcher.

Since she couldn't understand the lesson anyway, Yukino began cautiously probing the mysterious presence in her mind.

[Have I turned around my Negative Image yet?]

The keyword triggered.

A translucent Light Screen quickly appeared before her. Yukino glanced around at the other students, and when she saw that none of them seemed to notice anything, she looked back at it.

After being possessed, having dirty water thrown on her, and watching her reputation get ruined, Yukino realized she was practically numb. Ordinary things couldn't surprise her much anymore.

There was a human silhouette on the screen, completely covered in black.

Got it. It wanted her to fade or change color.

The Light Screen went dark.

Anyway, whether it was fading or changing color, black was no good.

Threats wouldn't work, either. That wouldn't improve her image; it would only make the silhouette even darker.

[The system has identified the best option for turning things around: Tell everyone loudly, "Actually, I like girls!"]

Quiet.

Wasn't there any other option?

The keyword triggered, and several choices appeared on the Light Screen in a row: A, B, and C.

A: Date an honest, dependable boy and cultivate the image of a virtuous wife and loving mother to improve your reputation (46% success rate).

B: Get the top grades in your year. The strong are always worthy of forgiveness. [66% success rate]

C: Tell everyone loudly, "Actually, I like girls!" (88% success rate)

Yukino glanced at the choices and immediately ruled out A and B.

Option A would hurt both her and the other person, and it would take too long. As for B, she was more than a year behind in her studies, and it would also take too long.

She urgently needed to stop anyone else from taking over her body. Every additional day meant another day of risk.

So the third choice, ridiculous as it seemed, was the most practical one?

If she told everyone she liked girls, the girls caught up in those tedious romantic rivalries would probably stop wasting their hostility on her.

Of course, she might also face contempt and disdain. She could even end up completely ostracized.

But that didn't matter to Yukino. After a long life spent walking alone, she'd long since gotten used to being by herself.

Everyone was ostracizing her?

No. She was the one who'd ostracized everyone else.

While Yukino's mind raced, the villainess and her friends fumed helplessly.

"Wasn't Yukinoshita the one who dated Hayama and confessed to someone else?"

"Wasn't she the one who hit on Hachiman Hikigaya from Year 2 Class F and made her good friend Yui Yuigahama cry?"

"She's obviously a scumbag, so why does she still get to act so self-righteous?"

Her sidekick, Maeda, forced an awkward smile as he tried to comfort her. "Haru, don't cry..."

His gaze couldn't help drifting toward the girl with the cold, resolute expression. Of course, plenty of people in the class were watching her.

Her slightly messy blonde hair was the same as usual, as was her heavy makeup and bright nail polish.

And yet he couldn't help feeling there was something different about Yukinoshita today, the gloomy delinquent.

The Yukinoshita of the past had been sensitive and gloomy, sharp-tongued and nasty to every girl. It was as if something were chasing and threatening her from behind. But when people at school mocked or bullied her, she never said a word. She just took it.

Someone so unpleasant and yet so easy to bully was bound to become a target for ostracism or even bullying in the class.

But today, Yukinoshita was as resolute as the snow in midwinter. Despite her messy hair and heavy makeup, she had an untouchably pure air about her.

After school, the villainess, Haru Takada, refused to back down and jumped in with another taunt. "Don't think you've won today. Sugi won't like someone like you."

A fair-haired boy stood among the crowd a short distance away. Hearing his name, he turned around awkwardly.

Yukino calmly put her books away before turning around.

"From now on, you can stop worrying about that ridiculous possibility."

Beneath her blonde hair and heavy makeup, her eyes were as beautiful as a chilly spring—or perhaps a gorgeous, transparent gem.

"Because I actually like girls."

[Choice completed. Spirit +1]

Before leaving school, Yukino told her homeroom teacher, Teacher Sanwa, that she wanted to transfer to another class. He looked like he'd been granted a new lease on life and promised to sort it out within two days.

After getting into the car driven by her family's chauffeur, parked outside the school gates, she checked the money in her wallet and told him to take her to the nearest hair salon.

The driver casually asked, "Oh, is Miss Yukinoshita going to get her hair treated?"

Yukino said, "No. I'm going to dye it back."

That's right. She was going to dye her hair back.

This blonde hair was just too much of an eyesore!

The driver nearly jumped out of his skin. "Huh?!"

The Second Miss Yukinoshita, who'd entered her rebellious phase and constantly fought with Madam Yukinoshita, even swearing she'd never dye her hair back if the world were ending, was going to dye it back today???

He was almost moved to tears. "Madam will be so happy when she hears!"

Yukino: "..."

She instantly changed her mind about dyeing it back.

After completing the choice, she'd received a reward of Spirit +1. She had no idea what that meant, but she felt as though her memory and thinking speed had improved a little.

The black silhouette also seemed—maybe, possibly, perhaps—to have lightened a little. A negligible amount.

She made it to a nicely decorated salon. The staff there even recognized her, and their faces lit up when she walked in. "Welcome, Miss Yukinoshita~"

If you were going to speak, don't put a tilde on the end.

Of course, Yukino wasn't that sharp-tongued with strangers.

Hair salons in Japan usually required appointments, but the rule was immediately waived for her. The smiling stylist came out to greet her. "Miss Yukinoshita, what color would you like today?"

Yukino was stunned. "Did I used to change colors every so often?"

Had blonde hair not been enough for you, body snatcher?

"Haha, you even had your hair dyed in seven colors once. You pulled it off very well."

Yukino with seven-colored hair...