My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As Expected

She was lonely, engrossed in her studies.

This had to be a joke. Yukino, who ranked dead last in the class, wanted to study?

But lately, she really had been putting in that kind of effort.

Honestly, after seeing Yukino like this, Miura couldn't even remember what she used to be like.

Miura had seen photos of Yukino from around this time on the Campus Forum.

She couldn't understand why Yukino had chosen to ruin herself more than a year ago. She was pretty and came from a wealthy family, so there shouldn't have been anything worth falling apart over... Though, come to think of it, could it have been a family problem?

Wasn't that how it always went in dramas and anime? Rich young ladies and young masters spent every day brooding over all kinds of bizarre things.

[Do you think I'm happy? No, money can't buy happiness!]

While the teacher had his back turned, Miura tossed a crumpled-up piece of paper onto Yui Yuigahama's desk.

Yuigahama looked back at her, then read what was written on the paper. She wrote something in reply and tossed it back.

Question: [Yuigahama, do you know why Yukino suddenly went from being an arrogant girl to a gloomy one a few months ago?]

Answer: [I don't know. But come to think of it, Miura, you've been paying a lot of attention to Yukino lately (^_^)]

Miura's face immediately turned awkward.

W-what? No, I haven't!

You had to understand your enemy!

Yes, that was all.

Yukino had been using her cute looks to hit on boys and cheat on them left and right. Even Hayama had been cheated on after only two days together.

Miura still hated Yukino, of course, but...

No matter how much you disliked someone, if you realized she might be in love with you, you couldn't help feeling a little guilty about that dislike. Yumiko Miura was that kind of person.

Could Yukino really be in love with her?

Someone from the Yukinoshita Family should have always been beyond reproach. Falling this low was downright humiliating.

Yukino now listened to her Second Year of High School lessons every day, understanding some of them and struggling with the rest, but she diligently took notes in every class.

She sat at the desk next to Yumiko Miura. The jacket she used to wear loosely tied around her waist was now properly on her shoulders. Every button on her shirt was done up neatly to the top, and the two ends of the red ribbon at her collar hung at precisely the same length.

Her brightly colored nail polish was gone. The nails on her long, slender fingers had been trimmed neatly.

Her back was straight and her posture graceful, giving her the proud, solitary air of a pine standing in the snow.

It was hard to imagine that someone who looked every bit the model student had been a Shibuya-style gal with bleached-blond hair just a few days ago.

Yumiko Miura felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.

What should she do? What should she do? What should she do?

Why did Yukino have to sit right next to her?

Was it a coincidence or had she done it on purpose?

No, no, even if Yukino sat right beside her, that didn't mean anything. The teacher could have assigned their seats by chance, or maybe the class representative had arranged them...

Never mind whether the rumor that Yukino liked girls was true. Even if she did like girls, there was no way she liked Miura!

There were so many girls at Sobu High School who hated Yukino that you couldn't count them all. And the most famous among them was probably Yumiko Miura.

Miura was just as fashion-forward, with blond hair and at the peak of the Social Butterfly crowd, but she didn't have even a trace of the delinquent, Shibuya-gal vibe. Instead, she radiated the queenly air of a leader.

Together with Hayato Hayama, the Campus Prince and the most popular guy in their class, she was considered one of the best sights at Sobu High School. Plenty of people thought they were perfect for each other and that they would get together sooner or later.

Until recently, Yumiko Miura had thought so too.

Then, one day, Hayama came to her, looking shy and happy, and told her that he was dating Yukino Yukinoshita, the famous girl from the class next door.

Yukino had confessed to him first.

By then, Yukino's reputation was already awful. She'd confessed to most of the boys in her class, then cheated on every one of them within a day or two.

Miura had never seen Hayama, who was usually so composed, look that happy.

She had known Hayama since they were children. He was cheerful and kind, did well in school, and was good at every sport. He was the school's prince, and girls had liked him ever since elementary school.

But he had never shown any particular interest in a girl, let alone gone out with one.

For a while, Miura had even wondered if Hayama liked boys. [x

She'd been so jealous she could hardly stand it, and had her doubts about Yukino's character, but Yumiko Miura still planned to offer the couple her congratulations.

Yukino might have accepted anyone who confessed to her and dumped them without a second thought, but this time it was Hayama, the best boy at all of Sobu High School.

Miura had thought, Who would ever be willing to break up with Hayama?

Then Hayama got dumped the very next day.

Miura: "..."

Yukino had to be a heartless jerk who played with people's feelings!

Miura remembered how she'd felt then: first shocked, then furious.

She'd cared so much about her friend and wanted to entrust him to another girl, only for that girl to toss him aside like trash.

From then on, Miura and Yukino had been at each other's throats.

Though that was only how Miura saw it. In truth, the way they sniped at each other whenever they met was nothing compared to the bullying Yukino had suffered in her old class.

But that awful Yukino had transferred into Miura's class and become her desk neighbor, and she'd said that she'd actually always liked girls.

At that very moment, Miura felt as if an earthquake had struck her heart.

Her phone buzzed a few times. Miura glanced at the teacher, who was facing the blackboard and drawing geometric figures, then stealthily pulled her phone out from under her desk. She saw a message from her friend Onozawa Kaho.

Ono was always eager for gossip, and she was especially excited now.

"Yumiko! Yukino's sitting next to you!! She did that on purpose, right? She's definitely in love with you!!!"

"That explains why she broke up with Hayama after only one day! She just wanted to ruin your relationship with him, right?!"

"Hayama and Yumiko were getting a lot closer around then, after all!"

Yumiko raised an arm awkwardly to cover her reddening face.

Oh, come on. Kaho was making up gossip again.

Yukino? No way...

At that age, a girl was more likely to feel embarrassed and disgusted than shy and pleased at the idea of another girl having a crush on her. But if that girl was Yukino, with her long, straight black hair, that was different.

Just as she was absorbed in her phone, a stern voice suddenly rang out above her. "Miura, stand up and answer this question!"

Yumiko Miura got to her feet without thinking. She saw the middle-aged teacher glaring at her furiously, and felt a cold sweat break out down her back.

She was done for. She had no idea what the teacher had been talking about!

As she stood there with sweat pouring down her forehead, she heard a few faint taps from the desk beside hers. She turned her head and, thanks to her good eyesight, saw a large C written in her neighbor's notebook.

Was this a joke? Yukino, the dunce.

She was definitely just writing random answers to mess with Miura.

But the teacher was still glaring at her, so Miura had no choice. She forced herself to answer, "C..."

The teacher gave a loud snort.

Of course. Yukino, you were messing with me!

"Correct. Sit down. You may have a good grasp of the basics, but you still need to pay attention in class, Miura."

Huh?

Miura sat down, bewildered, and turned to look at Yukino's pale, pretty profile. Her expression was calm.

People had complimented Miura before, saying her makeup, hair color, and clothes came together so naturally that she could be photographed without any Photoshop and put right on the cover of a fashion magazine.

But only now did Miura truly realize that, for a real beauty, all that complicated makeup was just a burden.

Her phone buzzed several times, but Miura no longer felt like looking at it.

She could think of only one thing.

Yukino's in love with me?

This Yukino is in love with me?

Yukino's definitely in love with me, isn't she?!

Otherwise, why would someone like her help a former rival from so long ago?

At that moment, Yukino received the reward for the choice mission.

[The system has selected the best option for reversing your Negative Image: tell Yumiko Miura that the answer is C]

[Choice completed, Spirit +1]

The system even supplied the answers. For a dunce like Yukino, it was seriously helpful..._(:з"∠)_

For a school pariah like Yukino, who was hated by everyone, the most troublesome class was probably physical education.

Japanese PE classes were really, really, really annoying, because they included all sorts of partner activities, like volleyball and warm-up exercises. All of them required two or more people to work together.

The trouble was, more than half the girls in this class had a real grudge against her and wanted to see her embarrass herself. The other girls, who had no personal beef with her, didn't dare talk to her either, for fear of starting a rumor that they liked Yukino.

Ever since the incident with the answer yesterday, Miura couldn't help glancing over at Yukino.

Yukino's long hair was tied up in a ponytail. She wore the standard school gym uniform, which seemed to consist of a loose white T-shirt and knee-length athletic shorts, along with knee-high socks and indoor shoes.

The pale skin of her calves was slightly indented where the socks clung to them. Beneath the loose gym clothes, her figure had an especially alluring curve.

The clothes were perfectly ordinary, but on her they somehow looked clean and stylish.

She stood alone outside the crowd, a sharp contrast to Miura, who was surrounded by people.

But even in a scene that made Miura feel embarrassed and uncomfortable just watching it, Yukino's expression remained calm. She held her hands behind her back and lowered her head slightly.

What could Yukino be thinking at that very moment?

Just as Miura felt the urge to take a step toward her, someone called out, "Yumiko~"

The voice was as cheerful and gentle as ever. It was Hayato Hayama.

Miura smiled and turned around. "Hayama, what is it?"

Hayato Hayama was a handsome boy with blond hair and a sunny smile. Even after someone had thoroughly toyed with his feelings a few months ago, he still carried himself with the same grace. She'd never seen him look even the slightest bit dejected.

He scratched his head awkwardly. "Yumiko, do you have a partner for PE?"

Miura was a little puzzled, but answered honestly. "Kaho, Junko, Yui, and some of the other girls. We'll just pair up however we like."

Hayama looked even more awkward. "Well, then, would you..."

In the end, he said it. "Could I ask you to partner up with Yukino?"

Miura froze. "Huh..."

Hayama looked terribly awkward, and quickly added, "Yumiko, don't force yourself. That was thoughtless of me. Just pretend I never said anything."

Miura smiled. "If someone else partnered with Yukino, rumors would spread about them the very next day."

She waved and walked over. "I'm the best choice anyway. You think so too, don't you, Hayama?"

That was true. Miura and Yukino had had a terrible relationship, so nobody would gossip if they partnered up.

But even after being treated like this, he was still concerned about Yukino?

Hayama, you really were...

Yukino stood quietly where she was, lost in thought as she waited for the teacher to assign the next activity.

PE was a little troublesome, but only a little.