Several days had passed since the swimming test ended, and Tatsuya Sakuya of Class 1-D had become the talk of the entire grade. At the very least, he had gained a certain amount of influence within Class 1-D.
With an overwhelming performance, Tatsuya Sakuya had swept aside athletic standouts such as Sudo Ken and Kouenji Rokusuke, pushing the school's best records forward by a considerable margin.
The ordinary student no one had paid attention to before had now become a somewhat renowned swimming powerhouse in the class.
Karuizawa Kei had witnessed this sudden transformation with her own eyes.
The hallway of the academic building in the afternoon.
The noise of recess rose and fell, but the corner at the end of the hallway remained relatively quiet.
Karuizawa Kei stood there, absentmindedly looking down at the field below as memories of the past resurfaced.
No one understood the price of weakness better than she did.
She had endured malicious bullying from groups of girls for a long time—thumbtacks in her shoes, slaps across the face in public, animal carcasses stuffed into her desk. To her, those were simply everyday occurrences.
At first, she had sought help from teachers and the school, but her abusers had connections. The school chose to downplay everything and conceal the truth, refusing to intervene. Instead, the perpetrators only became worse.
The despair of being bullied, isolated, and wantonly humiliated had long left indelible scars in her heart. She had entered Advanced Nurturing University so that she would never again be the weak person being bullied.
To achieve that, she desperately disguised herself as a cheerful, assertive gyaru with excellent social connections, painstakingly building her social circle. None of it had ever been for vanity. She simply did not want to repeat the unbearable life she had once lived.
Originally, she had believed Hirata Yousuke would be the safest person to rely on.
Hirata Yousuke had a gentle personality and considerable influence in Class 1-D. Their public relationship as a perfect couple had been enough to shield her from most malice and bullying.
But after observing him for some time, she realized that Hirata was kind to everyone. Whenever something happened, he only tried to smooth things over and keep the peace. He would never forcefully stand up for anyone, so he could not give her absolute protection.
She needed someone stronger, more reliable—someone who could shelter her from the storm.
Tatsuya Sakuya's sudden rise happened to fulfill all her requirements.
He was powerful. In the swimming test, he had crushed the school's athletic elites. He possessed undeniable ability, making him far better than the other oddballs in Class 1-D.
As she was lost in thought, Tatsuya Sakuya passed by.
"Shiba, wait a moment."
Karuizawa Kei stepped forward and blocked his path.
Passersby who caught sight of the scene would only think that a pretty girl had struck up a conversation, the air full of youthful energy.
Tatsuya Sakuya stopped, his gaze falling on the gyaru before him. His tone was calm.
"Karuizawa, may I ask what you need?"
There was no excessive warmth, nor any deliberate distance. He had struck exactly the right balance.
Karuizawa Kei tilted her head slightly, her smile sweet and natural as she openly looked at his face.
"Of course I have something to talk about. Shiba, you're quite the celebrity in our grade now. First place in the whole school in the swimming competition—that's super impressive."
Karuizawa Kei began with a well-timed compliment to close the distance between them.
Tatsuya Sakuya raised an eyebrow. "I was just lucky."
"That wasn't luck."
Karuizawa Kei gently shook her head, her tone serious. Then she put away some of her playfulness and became more solemn. "I came to you because I have a serious deal to discuss."
"A deal?"
A trace of amusement flashed through Tatsuya Sakuya's eyes, though he remained composed.
"There are too many people here. Meet me at the café in Keyaki Mall this afternoon. Then it's settled—don't stand me up."
Karuizawa Kei leaned closer, lowering her voice until only the two of them could hear it.
Tatsuya Sakuya entered the café in Keyaki Mall at the agreed time.
"Over here, over here."
The moment Karuizawa Kei saw him, she waved him over.
Karuizawa Kei's outfit that day consisted of a light blue blouse with a bow, a wine-red jacket, and a white pleated skirt.
Her slender, well-proportioned legs were wrapped in pristine mid-calf socks, their lines clean and sleek. Her brown-gold hair was tied in a high ponytail. She was undeniably a beautiful girl.
"What did you want to talk about, Karuizawa?"
Tatsuya Sakuya sat across from Karuizawa Kei.
"Shiba, what kind of person do you think I am? Or rather, what do you think of me?"
Karuizawa Kei got straight to the point.
"Hmm. Karuizawa, you're a very impressive person. Not long after school began, you had already gotten along well with the girls in class."
Tatsuya Sakuya seriously considered her question.
"What about my looks? What do you think of my looks?"
"You have the looks of a beautiful girl with a standard gyaru style."
Tatsuya Sakuya carefully looked over the girl in front of him again.
"Great. Then can you be my boyfriend? Oh, no, that's not right. I want you to pretend to be my boyfriend and protect me."
Be Karuizawa Kei's boyfriend? Damn it, there was absolutely no need to think about something like that.
An ordinary boy would probably have already lost his composure by now, but Tatsuya Sakuya merely sank into a mental storm.
"Hey, Shiba, are you listening?"
Karuizawa Kei saw that Tatsuya Sakuya had not reacted for quite a while.
"Why would you say that, Karuizawa?"
Tatsuya Sakuya feigned restraint.
Karuizawa Kei spoke with complete honesty, without the slightest hesitation.
"I think you have a lot of potential. Besides, you're handsome too. You'd make me look good when I take you out."
This was Karuizawa Kei's way of surviving: entrusting herself to someone else.
"How about this? I won't treat you unfairly. I can give you ten thousand points every month to rent you as my pretend boyfriend."
A beautiful girl had come right to my door, and I'd even get points? What kind of amazing deal was this? Was I dreaming?
For a moment, Tatsuya Sakuya was somewhat dazed, feeling as though none of this was real.
"Karuizawa, could you pinch me? Am I dreaming?"
Karuizawa Kei laughed helplessly at that. She extended a slender finger and lightly pinched Tatsuya Sakuya's arm.
"Hiss."
The warmth transmitted through his clothes confirmed for Tatsuya Sakuya that he was very much alive.
"Princess, please make the payment."
Tatsuya Sakuya laughed and casually brought up his Line QR code.
Teased so bluntly, a flush spread across Karuizawa Kei's delicate neck, adding a touch of girlish shyness.
But she did not hesitate. Obediently, she opened Line, added him as a friend, and transferred ten thousand points.
"Line: ten thousand points received."
A crisp payment notification sounded from the phone, formally finalizing the special contractual relationship between them.
All right. Starting today, I'm Karuizawa Kei's rented boyfriend.
Your stubbornness, rebellion, willfulness, melancholy, and girlish secrets—I'll accept them all.
Before you continue