I… Barato Nanami confessed to a boy for the first time today. He’s quiet, calm, never stands out in class, and we’ve never really had any connection. I barely know anything about him… But he’s kind. That boy—Misumai Youshin-kun—is the one I confessed to.
It’s not like I like him or anything.
This confession was part of a punishment game.
A punishment game where I confess, and if he accepts, we have to date for one month.
Playing with someone’s heart like this is the worst kind of behavior… And I’m painfully aware of just how awful it is.
Anyone quiet would have done… Saying it like that makes me sound like some random attacker, but it’s true. From his point of view, it must feel like he was suddenly attacked out of nowhere.
As an excuse, I wasn’t the one who came up with this punishment game. It was my friends, Otofuke Hatsumi and Kamoenai Ayumu. They were the ones who thought of it. Though the moment I accepted, I became just as guilty.
At first, I hesitated. I knew it was wrong to toy with someone’s feelings. But in the end… I agreed to the punishment game.
I may dress flashily on the outside, but because of certain circumstances, I’m not very good with men. The way I dress was something the two of them put together for me—it’s like a wall that protects my heart.
Even if it’s a pretty thin wall, considering how revealing the clothes are… Still, when I’m dressed like this and with the two of them, I can somehow talk to boys normally. I’ve even made a few male friends.
But that only works when I’m with them. I still can’t be alone with a boy.
That’s exactly why the two of them worry about me.
Right now, things are fine. But in the future, I plan to go to university. Hatsumi wants to attend a vocational school to become a hairstylist, and Ayumu plans to go to one to become a designer. We’re all studying hard for our dreams.
People tend to think the three of us are airheads, but our grades aren’t bad at all. We work seriously toward our futures.
Eventually, my path will definitely be different from theirs. Without them by my side… they’re extremely worried I might fall for some strange guy in university.
Sometimes it feels like they worry about me even more than my own mother does.
That’s probably why they suggested this punishment game. So I could at least get used to boys…
I’m sure they chose him because they thought he was safe. Honestly, even though I’d never spoken to Youshin-kun before, he always seemed quiet and harmless. With their encouragement behind me, I decided to confess.
And so, I confessed to him today. Even while thinking it was awful, I told myself it was a chance to get used to boys. Such a selfish reason… I really am the worst.
But even though this was just part of a punishment game, I was incredibly nervous. My heart was pounding. I’ve been confessed to before, but I’ve never been the one confessing.
Still, what surprised me even more was his reaction.
The guys who confessed to me before… the captain of the sports club kept staring at my chest. The delinquent kept staring at my legs. The serious-looking boy with glasses kept staring at my upper arms.
Whenever they confessed, none of them looked at my face. Their eyes always wandered somewhere on my body… with a look like they were expecting something from me.
But he was different.
He looked straight into my eyes. He didn’t glance at any other part of me. He was completely serious—his gaze fixed only on my eyes.
That reaction, so different from anyone before, made me feel something that wasn’t just nervousness.
Then, after I finally gathered my courage—though it was only a punishment game, so calling it courage feels strange—and finished confessing… he suddenly ran toward me.
In the blink of an eye, he pushed me to the ground and covered me with his body.
Eh?! Am I being attacked?!
So in the end, he’s just like the others… no, even worse? Is he going to force himself on me right here? Fear shot through me all at once, and I screamed—but my legs wouldn’t move.
All I could do was scream.
But I quickly realized I had been wrong.
The instant I was pushed down, I heard the sound of water splashing onto the ground and a loud clang, like something hard hitting something else. Through his body, I felt the impact as well.
Not knowing what had happened, I slowly opened my eyes.
There he was—Youshin-kun—soaked from head to toe, blood running from his forehead.
His blood dampened my cheek… and he smiled at me.
“Are you okay, Nanami-san…? You’re not hurt?”
The first thing he said, even though he was injured and drenched, was to worry about me.
And then… he collapsed.
I panicked, thinking he might have died because of me, but I immediately called a teacher. He was carried to the infirmary.
The school nurse efficiently removed his wet clothes, treated him, and laid him on the bed. When she said he seemed fine, I was truly relieved.
…Because of the circumstances, I ended up seeing his upper body, and to my surprise, he was actually well-built. That made my heart race even more.
I had thought he was just a quiet, frail boy. But he wasn’t frail at all. He was unexpectedly sturdy.
And more than any boy I’ve met before, he was gentle and kind.
When he accepted my confession, joy surged through me—along with intense guilt. I was even surprised at myself for feeling happy about it.
When he saved me, he called me by my name without thinking. I was so happy about that that I managed to suggest we call each other by our first names. But that was all I could manage. I couldn’t say anything more.
Even though we walked home together, I could barely talk. Whether it was the growing guilt or just being nervous about walking alone with him, I don’t know. I just felt terribly sorry.
At the very end, we exchanged contact information. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be Youshin-kun’s… no, Youshin’s girlfriend. I told myself I couldn’t afford to mess up like I did today.
But then I wondered… why am I this fired up over a punishment game? It’s only for one month. And yet… why did I feel so lonely when we parted?
Shaking off those thoughts, I looked at my phone, which had been buzzing nonstop with notifications.
Even while I was thinking, it kept ringing. It was probably the two of them demanding to know how the confession went. As expected, I had message after message from them.
“How was it? Did it work?”
“I mean, it’ll be fine, right? Just tell us the result already!”
I gave a wry smile and typed a short reply into the group chat.
“It worked. A lot happened, so I’ll tell you the details tomorrow. I’m going to bed now. Good night.”
After sending that, I ended the conversation. A few more messages came in, but once they thought I was asleep, it quickly quieted down.
Then I took a deep breath and selected Youshin’s contact.
His icon looked like some anime character—a girl with braided hair. I wonder if he likes that kind of thing?
Without trying to calm my pounding heart, I sent him a message.
“Since we’re dating… want to go to school together starting tomorrow? How about meeting at the station at 7:30?”
Maybe that sounded a bit cold? Still, the moment I sent it, it was marked as read. I felt happy that he saw it right away… but for some reason, his reply didn’t come immediately, and I grew restless.
Did I say something weird? Is he ignoring me? Or maybe he’s just flustered because he’s not used to girls? If that’s the case, I kind of feel closer to him.
It probably wasn’t that long before he replied, but to me it felt like forever.
Finally, his message came.
“I’m happy I can walk to school with you, Nanami-san. 7:30, got it. I’m looking forward to it.”
The single word “happy” made me jump in excitement, the bed creaking beneath me. The polite speech bothered me a little, but he’s probably just not used to this sort of thing. Somehow, that made him seem a little cute.
…Cute? What am I even thinking? I barely know anything about him.
I don’t know if this pounding in my chest is just the suspension bridge effect, or if I’m actually starting to be drawn to him. If it’s the latter, then I’m way too easy.
That would mean the two of them were right to worry… No, I’m not that easy. He’s just a trial boyfriend so I can get used to boys. I’m not that easy! This is just the suspension bridge effect!
“But… well… even if it’s temporary, I am his girlfriend… so this much is okay, right?”
Just like I told my friends, I decided to go to bed early. With a small resolution in my heart, I slipped under the covers.
I’ll need to wake up earlier than usual tomorrow.
A meeting… my first meeting with my boyfriend. Feeling nervous about that simple fact, and exhausted from the day’s emotional strain, I quickly drifted off to sleep.
Youshin appeared over and over in my dreams—bare-chested each time—and I kept jolting awake because of it. As a result, I ended up more sleep-deprived than usual… but since I still managed to wake up earlier than normal as planned, I decided to force myself to call it a success.
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