“And well… that’s what happened today, Baron-san.”
“Whoa… you had quite an intense day again, Canyon-kun… Are you secretly a troublemaker or something?”
That’s rude. I’m supposed to be an ordinary high school boy…
But ever since I started dating Barato Nanami-san, every day has been filled with surprises and events. Even if the old me heard about my current life, he would never believe it.
Dating one of the school’s most famous gyaru-type beauties after she confessed to me as part of a punishment game.
…Well, the “punishment game” part might be the only believable part.
But even though it’s supposed to be a punishment game, the past few days have made me unbelievably happy… so maybe even that would be hard to believe.
“Still though… maybe it was just the atmosphere at the time, but you did well. You basically won in a 30-to-1 situation… Since it was a three-point contest in basketball, the score would be something like 90 to 3, right? Ahahaha, that’s a huge difference.”
“Well, maybe it was just the atmosphere… and the fact that my opponent accepted that he lost.”
Yes… I did technically win my match against Shibetsu-senpai, but if you judged it purely by points, it would have been a crushing defeat for me.
After all, I only made one three-point shot.
Before the match with Shibetsu-senpai started, I asked him to show me about twenty practice shots first, calling them “examples.” I stood beside him and watched closely, pretending that I wanted to learn the technique.
In reality, my goal was simply to drain a bit of his stamina. I also hoped that practicing beforehand might throw off his rhythm before the real match.
I even had him give me advice on my clumsy three-point shots.
…Being the captain of a club, he was actually very helpful, which made me feel a little guilty, but he still patiently taught me how to shoot properly.
Then, when it was my turn, I poured everything into my very first shot.
I focused with all my might on just one thing—getting that first shot in.
And somehow… it went in.
It was pure luck. The only reason I succeeded was because that lucky shot happened to be my first attempt.
Still, I could clearly see Shibetsu-senpai getting shaken.
Nanami-san cheering loudly for me probably added to that shock.
But the same thing happened to me as well.
Luck doesn’t keep happening forever, and the next nine shots I took all missed. By the last few attempts, the ball wasn’t even reaching the rim anymore.
I mean, Nanami-san was shouting things like “So cool! Amazing! I love it!”
Anyone would get flustered hearing that!
…Wait, now that I think about it… did she just say she loved me? Was that directed at me…?
…Maybe I imagined it.
Anyway… because that first shot went in, I had already fulfilled my victory condition.
The rule was that if I made even one shot, I would win.
At the very least, from that point on, I couldn’t lose.
The only miscalculation was that Shibetsu-senpai, despite being visibly shaken, still went on to sink ten three-point shots in a row afterward.
After already throwing about twenty shots, giving guidance to someone as terrible as me, watching me meet my victory condition on the first shot, and hearing Nanami-san cheering for me…
Even with all those distractions, he still made all ten shots during the actual contest.
Including the earlier twenty, that meant he successfully made thirty three-pointers in total.
That was honestly incredible.
I don’t know much about basketball, but maybe those first twenty shots ended up serving as a warm-up… or maybe thirty shots was simply easy for someone at his level.
Either way, I have to admit I underestimated the captain of the basketball club.
And so the result became, essentially, 10 to 1… or if you include the earlier shots, 30 to 1.
Normally, even after considering the handicap, that would mean a draw at best.
In fact, what I personally felt was a sense of defeat.
But that feeling disappeared instantly with just one sentence from Nanami-san.
“Youshin wins!”
Because of the condition I had set—“No matter what the result is, please let Nanami-san decide the outcome of the match”—she declared me the winner.
It was practically a rigged match, but Shibetsu-senpai still accepted the result.
“Seriously… that’s completely unfair. If she’s the one making the final judgment, then even if you scored zero shots you could still win just because she says so.”
“Yeah… that’s true. It was completely unfair.”
If she had been charmed by senpai after the match, then the result could have gone the other way no matter what.
Still, I doubted Nanami-san would suddenly choose someone she had already rejected once.
Even so, there’s always the chance of something unexpected.
After all, even I had to admit that Shibetsu-senpai’s three-point shots looked incredibly cool.
And since this relationship started as a punishment game… who knows what might happen.
…Though thankfully, those worries turned out to be unnecessary.
After the match, Nanami-san launched a full-on hugging attack.
She was soft, warm, and smelled nice… and because her outfit showed a lot of skin, there was quite a lot of contact.
Then she would suddenly realize what she was doing, blush bright red, and pull away slightly.
That whole sequence happened several times.
…Honestly, I still haven’t forgotten that feeling.
It was my first time being hugged like that, after all.
“Hey, Canyon-kun. Do you remember the first thing I told you?”
“The first thing?”
Baron-san suddenly changed the topic.
The first thing he told me…
Well, he’s said a lot of things to me recently, so it’s hard to narrow it down.
But if he’s bringing it up now…
“You mean about making her fall in love with me?”
“Correct. Your intuition isn’t bad.”
“Well, it was the very first thing you told me, so of course I remember.”
Talking with Baron-san was the reason I chose to start dating her.
And ever since then, I’ve tried in my own way to make her like me.
…Have I really been trying, though?
Still, compared to before, I’ve definitely been more careful about what I say and do.
Did Baron-san notice something about that?
“But you know… aren’t you the one who’s becoming completely head over heels for her?”
When I saw that message on the screen, my heart gave a heavy thump.
Because it hit the mark.
“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. If you’ve fallen for her, then that’s actually great.”
“…Really?”
I thought he might scold me for something like that.
But instead, the next thing he said completely shocked me.
“Yeah. Because from what I can see, she’s already completely head over heels for you. If you like her too, then congratulations—you’re officially a mutual couple. No problems, no obstacles.”
“You really think so…? That she likes me…?”
“Honestly, if she didn’t like you after acting like that, I’d lose faith in women entirely.”
What?
We only started dating on Tuesday.
Today is the third day.
Could things really progress that quickly?
But… if that’s true… I’d be pretty happy.
“I don’t think so at all. She’s definitely just playing with him.”
Peach-san suddenly jumped into the conversation.
Well, technically it’s a chat room, so she didn’t really “interrupt,” but her comment instantly cooled my thoughts.
“Girls like that always toy with guys and laugh behind their backs. Her friends were smirking the whole time, right? They were probably laughing because Canyon-san didn’t realize what was going on.”
…For some reason, her words instantly cooled my head.
They were negative and full of prejudice, but it was true that Nanami-san’s friends—Otofuke-san and Kamoenai-san—had been watching me with amused smiles.
Still…
“Peach-san, thank you for worrying about me. I appreciate it. But I don’t think she’s a bad person. So please don’t talk about her like that.”
I hadn’t felt any malice from those smiles.
Besides, they had said from the beginning that they wouldn’t reveal that it was a punishment game.
So that smirk must have meant something else.
“...I’m sorry. I was just worried about you.”
“No, thank you. It helped me calm down. From now on, I’ll work even harder to make her like me.”
Yes, it’s far too early for me to get conceited.
We’ve only been dating for three days.
Unless she’s unbelievably easy to win over—a so-called “choroin”—it’s safer to assume she’s just acting out her version of the ‘ideal girlfriend.’
“...Sorry, I’m logging off for today.”
With that, Peach-san left the chat.
Her words had been harsh, but she was probably just worried about me.
Maybe she had some bad experiences with gyaru-type girls in the past.
“I was worried things might get awkward after what Peach-chan said, but I’m glad you took it positively. Sorry about that—she probably didn’t mean any harm.”
Almost as if replacing Peach-san, Baron-san typed a message.
He probably felt the same way I did.
This person is really reliable.
“No, I’m not bothered. In fact, thanks to her I was able to cool my head. I’ll keep working hard so she’ll like me even more.”
“...Honestly, I don’t think you need to worry anymore, but putting in positive effort is never a bad thing.”
“So what should I do first?”
“It would be cooler if you didn’t rely on me for that. Besides, most of what I say comes from the internet anyway. You could just look it up yourself.”
…He always says his advice comes from the internet.
But is that really true?
I’ve actually searched online myself, but none of the advice I found really clicked.
But when Baron-san says something, it feels convincing. It just makes sense.
That’s why I always end up relying on him.
“Anyway, tomorrow you should take care of her. After what happened today, she might be feeling a little anxious.”
“Anxious? I won the match, so I thought everything was fine…”
“Hmm… She’s probably worried that more people might challenge you like that in the future.”
…Ah, that’s possible.
If that’s the case, maybe accepting senpai’s challenge so casually was a bit reckless.
“From the way you describe her, she might feel guilty that you’re getting dragged into dangerous situations because of her. So just reassure her—lie, bluff, or act tough if you have to. Show her that it doesn’t bother you.”
“…I see. That makes sense. Thank you.”
After the match, we walked home holding hands.
If she was secretly feeling anxious the whole time…
Then I feel pathetic for not realizing it.
“Still, the rumor that you ‘beat the basketball club captain’ will probably spread around school with all kinds of exaggerations. So tomorrow should be peaceful. Enjoy flirting with her. Maybe talk about your Sunday date.”
“…Yeah. I’ll ask her what movie she wants to watch.”
“Good idea.”
Even just seeing the word “date” still makes my heart race.
But somehow… it feels nice.
If she really is worried… or even if she isn’t, I should prepare something nice to say tomorrow.
This is one thing I shouldn’t rely on Baron-san for.
Instead of focusing on the mobile game I usually play, I spent the rest of the night thinking about what I should say to her tomorrow.
…By the way, after that Nanami-san sent me a huge number of messages.
Every single one of them was praising me.
I didn’t think I had done anything worthy of that much praise, and I felt a little guilty for winning with such a dirty trick.
But that feeling vanished instantly after reading the next message.
“I hugged you earlier… but maybe I should’ve given you a little kiss on the cheek as a reward?”
Honestly… I’d be happy…
But if she had actually done that in front of everyone, my heart probably wouldn’t have survived, Nanami-san…
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