“It’s not about getting caught or not. We already have boyfriends, so there’s no way we’d go hang out with other guys. If you’re hitting on us, go bother someone else.”
“Aw, don’t be so cold~. Dressed like that, you’re probably used to playing around anyway, right?”
Otofuke Hatsumi-san and Kamoenai Ayumu-san were showing their shoulders and boldly exposing their legs… so this is what you’d call gyaru-style fashion, huh?
Even in their uniforms, they usually shorten their skirts, so seeing their legs wasn’t anything new—but the exposed shoulders I don’t usually see made my heart race. …Well, their legs did too.
The other girl, on the other hand, had a more modest outfit… I guess you’d call it a refined, neat style?
She kept her skin exposure to a minimum, basically the complete opposite of the other two.
She was also wearing glasses, giving off a calm impression that matched her outfit. At the very least, I’d never seen her at school before.
Had Nanami-san already left them and gone off to hang out with someone else today?
No, that doesn’t matter right now. First, I need to understand the situation.
They’re being hit on.
They clearly don’t like it.
And I just witnessed it.
So, should I help them or not…?
Well, obviously I should. There’s nothing to think about.
If I abandoned my girlfriend’s friends here, I wouldn’t be able to face Nanami-san during tomorrow’s date. So helping them is non-negotiable.
A protagonist in a story full of justice would probably just charge in without thinking and somehow make it work… but I’ve never been in a fight, and there are three of them. Pathetic as it is, I can already see myself losing.
So I’ll take some precautions first.
After quickly arranging that “insurance,” I approached the three girls. Just in time—one of the guys was about to grab one of their hands.
“Hey, what a coincidence. All three of you are here? Are those guys your friends?”
I spoke as casually as possible, putting on a friendly smile. I avoided calling them by name—protecting personal information is important.
The three girls turned toward me in surprise at my sudden appearance, but the guys… shot me irritated looks for butting in.
“Huh? Who the hell are you?”
Short temper, huh.
I wish they’d at least greet me with the same refreshing smile they were using on the girls earlier. Though, to be fair, that smile was pretty obviously full of ulterior motives.
The one glaring at me was the long-haired guy with brown hair and a tilted cap—the one who had been the most aggressive in hitting on them.
He was good-looking, sure… but compared to Shibetsu-senpai, he was way inferior. A discount version, really.
“I’m actually their—”
“If you’ve got nothing to do with this, get lost, you all-black gloomy cockroach. You don’t wanna get hurt, right? So scram.”
…At least let me finish my sentence. I didn’t even get to explain before being labeled irrelevant—and now I’ve been given the lovely nickname “cockroach.”
The other two guys behind him were snickering along. Discount Senpai vs. Cockroach Man… sounds like a low-budget movie title.
“You deaf or what?! If you’ve got nothing to do with this, get lost already!!”
“I’m not unrelated. Um… I’m actually…”
…Judging from this, even if I said I was a friend, they’d just brush me off. What should I say…?
When I looked over, the three girls were watching me with worried expressions.
The one who seemed the most worried was the unfamiliar girl. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Our eyes met. Yeah… sorry for worrying you. I smiled at her reassuringly, but…
…Huh?
…Her eyes… I’ve seen them before… could it be…? No, but… I’m not sure.
But… if I’m wrong, I’m sorry, Nanami-san.
I apologized in my heart, then pointed at the unfamiliar girl among the three.
“I’m her boyfriend. If she’s being hit on, it’s only natural for me to step in, right?”
I declared myself as the boyfriend of the unfamiliar girl—the one whose eyes caught my attention.
And the guys burst out laughing.
Did I really say something that funny?
“Ohhh, so you’re the boyfriend of the plainest one, huh? Fine, take her and go. A gloomy cockroach and a plain glasses girl—perfect match. We’ll take the other two—”
“No, that won’t work. The other two don’t like this either, right? I can’t just leave my girlfriend’s friends behind.”
This time, I cut him off.
That must have really pissed him off, because he grabbed me by the collar, looking ready to punch me at any moment.
“Don’t get cocky, you loser!! If you don’t wanna die, get the hell outta here!! I’ll deal with your girl too!!”
At that exact moment, my “insurance” arrived. The timing couldn’t have been better.
“Excuse me, what seems to be the problem here? You’re causing a disturbance—could you come with us?”
Several clearly well-built security guards appeared, surrounding everyone so no one could escape. Even I was surprised there were more of them than I expected.
“W-we didn’t do anything…”
“Ah, perfect timing, officers. This is assault in progress. Could you call the police?”
“Hah?! Assault?! We didn’t do anything!!”
The discount guy shouted in shock, still gripping my collar.
“You didn’t know? Grabbing someone by the collar already counts as assault. And there are plenty of witnesses here. You can’t talk your way out of this—you’ll be arrested.”
I forced myself to stay calm, suppressing the fear shaking my body, and told him matter-of-factly.
It was something I’d picked up online—maybe not perfectly accurate, but enough to scare him.
Hearing the word “arrest,” his body stiffened, and he couldn’t even let go of my collar.
“And you two—if you’re with him, won’t you be considered accomplices?”
I turned my gaze to the other two guys.
That wasn’t actually true, of course—but under my stare, their earlier smug expressions vanished, replaced with unease.
“W-we’re not involved! He was the one who wanted to hit on them! He’s the only one who grabbed you!”
“Y-yeah! We were just tagging along! We didn’t do anything! Let’s go!”
Wow… their friendship is really flimsy.
They tried to slip out of the circle of guards.
The discount guy looked at them with a mix of despair and anger.
“I see. Well, since only he grabbed my collar… maybe you two really aren’t involved. You can go.”
They looked relieved and quickly left through a small gap the guards made.
Seriously… they bailed fast.
“Hey!! Wait, you bastards!!”
The abandoned guy finally let go of my collar and tried to chase them, but the guards stopped him.
His furious shouts echoed through the mall as he was dragged away.
I had no intention of actually pressing charges, so I left the rest to the guards. As long as the girls were safe, that was enough.
After thanking the guards, I hurried over to the three girls.
“Are you all okay? Sorry I couldn’t save you in a cooler way.”
“No, no, that was more than enough. Thanks, Misumai. I almost ended up throwing hands again.”
“Seriously, I thought Hatsumi was about to beat them up again. What a relief~.”
Otofuke-san clenched her fist, while Kamoenai-san looked at her with exasperation.
…Wait, did they not even need my help?
“You’re strong, Otofuke-san…”
“Well, dressed like this, we get hit on a lot. Gotta protect myself somehow. My bo—uh, boyfriend trains me. I’m probably stronger than most guys.”
“Bo—?”
“Her boyfriend is actually her stepbrother. Ever heard of Otofuke Souichirou, the fighter?”
“Hey, no problem with that. Step-siblings can marry, after all.”
I wasn’t familiar with martial arts, so I didn’t recognize the name. But yeah… if she’s trained by someone like that, maybe I really did interfere unnecessarily.
Still… Otofuke-san is quite a character. Dating your stepbrother sounds straight out of a manga.
“Then… maybe I did something unnecessary…?”
“No, you helped. If she’d beaten them up again, her boyfriend would’ve insisted on becoming her full-time bodyguard.”
Well… I guess that worked out, then.
“But seriously, Misumai, that was impressive. Is this what they call the power of love? Right, Nanami?”
“Yeah, yeah—come on, Nanami, stop spacing out and join the conversation.”
At those words, they turned to the quiet girl behind them.
…I knew it.
I looked at her eyes again—behind those glasses, they were unmistakable.
“Nanami-san…?”
“Y-yeah… um… Youshin… thank you for helping me… And… I’m really happy you recognized me, even like this…”
Standing there was Nanami-san—dressed completely differently from how she looks at school.
…I wasn’t even completely sure, though.
“I like gyaru fashion, but I also like dressing like this… When I hang out with them, I usually look like this… um… were you disappointed?”
“Not at all. You’re cute—it suits you. Look at me, dressed head-to-toe in black like some gloomy cockroach… I guess this is what people mean when they say someone’s casual clothes are terrible.”
Otofuke-san and Kamoenai-san burst out laughing.
Yeah… that was a pretty accurate way to put it.
“I’m glad… But how did you know it was me?”
“Power of love, right~?”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s it, right, Misumai?”
…Hearing that, I felt a pang of guilt.
I hadn’t been completely sure it was her.
“...No, sorry. I recognized your eyes, but I wasn’t completely certain. Still… I thought it was probably you. Did that disappoint you?”
Nanami-san gently shook her head and smiled at me.
Even with glasses and a different outfit, that smile was the same as always.
“No, not at all. I’m happy you’re that kind of kind person.”
“That’s good.”
For a moment, we just looked at each other, forgetting everyone else around us. Somehow, that alone made me feel happy.
That moment was broken by her friends.
“Wow, you two are intense. Why not just go on a date together right now? Oh, wait—you already have one tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, yeah—go for it!”
We were pulled back to reality.
Nanami-san scolded them, while I could only smile awkwardly.
Honestly, if they allowed it, I wouldn’t mind… but looking down at my outfit, I quickly changed my mind.
“I’d love to, but I actually came here to buy clothes for tomorrow’s date… so you three should enjoy yourselves today.”
“Youshin… you went through all that… just for that…?”
“Well, I didn’t really have proper clothes, so I thought it was a good chance. Tomorrow, I’ll look a bit different—so look forward to it.”
She looked a bit apologetic, but I didn’t want her to feel that way.
Honestly, standing next to her like this, dressed all in black, was embarrassing.
So today, just running into her like this was enough for me.
“I see~ nice one, Misumai. Then let’s save the fun for tomorrow.”
“Alright then, we’ll borrow your girlfriend for today~.”
The two of them pulled Nanami-san along. I said goodbye, and she silently nodded before leaving with them.
As I turned to go, her voice stopped me.
“Hey, Youshin… which version of me do you want to see tomorrow?”
I turned back to face her.
It was a difficult question, but I answered with a smile.
“Whichever style feels natural to you is fine.”
It might’ve been a tricky answer like before, but she smiled, clearly satisfied.
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