The time was past 6 PM, about three hours after returning home from school. She, Fuyunagi Shizuku, came to my house as promised.

She’s currently occupying my bed like it’s her own territory.

She’s using a pillow I usually use as a body pillow and was complaining about what happened today…

“Hey hey, listen to me, Taku-chan!”

“What’s wrong? Fuyunagi-san?”

“Miyo was so awful! She apparently said behind my back that I’m a slutty woman who chases after men! Isn’t that terrible? It sounds like she’s been saying other things too! It’s just too much!”

“Hmm? That is pretty awful, huh.”

“Right, right? It’s awful, isn’t it?”

Nothing is wrong. Everything is correct and factual.

She’s already a total bitch for dating me while publicly being with the handsome guy, Sado.

“Saying bad things about me behind my back when she pretends to be my best friend… Miyo’s personality is just awful, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it really is.”

“Right! Taku-chan really gets it~”

You’re just as bad.

But aren’t girls just that kind of creature? Smiling sweetly only on the surface.

A parade of backstabbing and gossip behind closed doors.

I apologize for my prejudice, but…

“Oh yeah, you went on a date with Sado-kun, right? How was it? Did you have fun?”

“Hmm…? What do you think~?”

“Eh…?”

No, I’m the one asking here?

“I understand, I understand! You’re feeling anxious about me being stolen by Sado-kun, aren’t you? But don’t worry~ I’m seriously in love with Taku-kun!”

“I-I see…”

To be honest… I have absolutely no idea why she considers me her favorite.

She’s gorgeous and could choose any handsome guy to date if she wanted.

However, for some reason, she keeps me by her side as her main boyfriend.

“Honestly, Sado-kun isn’t a bad person, but it’s boring being with him… He only talks about soccer all the time! Like how amazing this player’s play was, or what was so great about that thing! And he keeps glancing at my boobs and legs! It’s kinda creepy~”

“H-hee….”

“Well, his face is good, so he’s alright as a boyfriend, I guess~”

“Are you dating him just because of his face?”

“There’s no reason beyond that, right?”

“Then why are you secretly dating me? I… don’t think my face is above average.”

“Hmm…? Taku-kun is my source of comfort~”

Saying that, she hugs my arm tightly.

Thanks to her, I can feel two large, round, soft sensations on my arm.

To be honest, she’s actually the one who confessed to me.

There was an unfamiliar letter in my desk, and following its instructions, I went to the meeting place where Fuyunagi-san was waiting.

And that’s when she confessed her feelings to me.

“Majima-kun… Majima Takuma-kun… would you become my boyfriend?”

At first, I thought it was a lie. No, I was certain of it.

There’s no reason for someone as beautiful as her—maybe even among the top in school—to confess to someone like me at the bottom of the food chain.

I thought that her gyaru friend who’s close to her had set up a game, and she was ordered to lie-confess to me as punishment if she lost.

Back then, I still thought of her as a pure and serious girl on the surface, so maybe I felt some sympathy because she was forced to confess against her will… Well, even if it were a lie, being with her would add color to my empty life.

“Huh…? O-okay, I—I’ll go out with you!”

“Really? Yay! That means we’re lovers now! Hehe!”

(H-how cute!)

“A-ah, but if we’re dating, there are things I want you to promise me!”

“Promises?”

“Yeah! First of all, I don’t want anyone to know about us!”

And then she presented the three conditions.

① Keep our relationship completely secret.

② Have home dates at least four times a week.

③ I’ll acknowledge you as my real boyfriend—but let me have a fake public boyfriend.

I can’t read her true feelings at all.

For all I know, I’m the fake boyfriend and Sado is the real one.

Actually, that sounds more natural.

I am inferior to Sado in every way imaginable.

Athletic ability, academic performance, social skills… there’s a huge gap in everything.

Normally, there’s no way I could be someone worthy of being chosen as her lover. But as a matter of fact, I hold the position of her boyfriend.

“Hup!”

“Whoa!?”

Suddenly, Fuyunagi-san jumps onto my lap.

Her back is so close now, and I can almost smell the pleasant scent of shampoo from her silky black hair.

I can feel a warm, soft sensation on my legs.

Like a peach…

Everywhere you look, she’s filled with the scent and softness of a girl, which is too much stimulation for me, a non-popular high school boy.

“See? Taku-kun, give me a biiig hug, okay?”

“Eh? U-um…”

I wrap my arms around her stomach and hug her tightly.

If I raise my arms even a little, I’ll reach those two large, soft mounds, so I carefully restrain myself.

Just in case I touch them, it would be a disaster.

She asks for this kind of physical contact almost every time.

I’m grateful for it, but not knowing what she’s thinking makes me feel more uneasy than happy with these kinds of touches.

Perhaps sensing my anxiety, she began to talk softly.

“You know, I’ve been confessed to and dated many boyfriends in the past, but they were all total losers… They only thought about my face and boobs, always trying to kiss me or have sex with me… And if I refused, they would get angry and freak out, it was awful.”

“That… sounds terrible.”

“Yeah, it’s painful. But I get lonely without a boyfriend, so I try to make one… but then I end up getting betrayed again… It’s the same cycle over and over…”

“So you get a boyfriend just because you’re lonely?”

“That’s part of it, but mostly it’s about showing off to my female friends?”

“Showing off?”

“Yeah, I’m popular, right? If I don’t have a boyfriend while being popular, the girls will get angry at me and accuse me of flaunting myself. And there are also guys who confess to me on a whim just to annoy others.”

“I see… So, Sado is for keeping away unwanted men?”

“Actually, I already told him about this.”

“Huh!? Really…?”

“Yeah… Ah, don’t worry, I haven’t told him anything about you?”

“Oh… I see…”

“Yeah. To keep guys away, I told him I wanted us to have a fake relationship… and you know what he did? He said yes. Isn’t he kind?”

“…I see.”

So she’s using Sado for that and then dissing him by saying soccer talk is boring…? Wow… seriously impressive, Fuyunagi-san.

But does that mean Sado is seriously aiming for Fuyunagi-san…?

“You know, you’re my ideal boyfriend.”

“Eh…? Why? I’m not handsome, smart, or good at sports.”

I feel a little sad to be putting myself down this much, but honestly, it’s a genuine question.

“You know… I don’t care about looks or grades anymore… As long as someone treats me kindly, none of that matters… Taku-kun, you’re different from all my past boyfriends… I know that… okay?”

“O-okay…”

I don’t understand what she knows about me.

But her eyes—they seemed to gleam with something unsettling.