Didn’t You Say I Was Just a Stand-In?

At six o'clock the next morning, Kitahara Takashi woke up right on time.

After waking up, Kitahara realized his mind felt unnervingly clear.

Of course, it wasn't as dramatic as getting hit on the head and suddenly becoming a math genius, seeing geometric patterns everywhere. But he could definitely feel the changes in his brain.

It was like a sudden epiphany—math problems that had once been completely incomprehensible to him now made perfect sense.

'So this is what 8 points of Intelligence feels like? Terrifying.'

Kitahara felt confident that getting into the University of Tokyo was a sure thing. He even dared to dream about prestigious schools like Stanford, Harvard, and Cambridge.

'First, a small goal: let's aim for first place in the next national exam,' Kitahara set a modest target for himself.

In the last national mock exam, he had ranked third.

The two above him were Shijo Miyuki and Shirogane Miyuki.

As someone who had grown up as a small-town exam warrior, he still cared deeply about his scores.

This time, he planned to take both of them down.

After a quick wash, Kitahara took Koharu out for a walk.

The weather was still clear and sunny today.

Kitahara arrived at the pavilion where he had agreed to meet Nakano Yotsuba.

When he got there, Nakano Yotsuba hadn't arrived yet.

Kitahara sat down on a bench, eating his breakfast while waiting for her, occasionally feeding Koharu a bite.

He didn't have to wait long—less than five minutes later, Nakano Yotsuba came running over.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

As she reached Kitahara, Yotsuba bent over, hands on her knees, panting heavily.

"It's fine, Yotsuba. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

Yotsuba answered honestly, "Not yet."

In their household, Nakano Nino was usually the one who cooked.

Nakano Nino was someone who loved sleeping in.

Unless she had plans the next day, she would usually sleep until noon.

So, the Nakano household didn't really have breakfast.

They usually just grabbed some bread to tide them over.

"If you don't mind, you can have some of mine. I made too much."

Kitahara had been waiting for Yotsuba to say this.

He handed her the breakfast bag he had prepared in advance.

Yotsuba waved her hands in refusal. "No, no, I'm not hungry."

Gurgle gurgle~

The moment she finished speaking, her stomach growled loudly, betraying her hunger.

"Uh..."

Yotsuba felt a little embarrassed.

She hadn't expected her stomach to be so uncooperative.

Of all times, why did it have to growl now?

Usually, she didn't feel hungry even if she skipped breakfast.

"Go ahead and eat. I'm having breakfast too."

Yotsuba wasn't good at refusing others.

After some hesitation, she said, "Thank you!" and took the breakfast bag.

As she took the bag, she noticed the food inside was still warm.

She sat down next to Kitahara and opened the bag.

She looked at the flat, round rice ball, assuming it was just an ordinary one, clumsily shaped by Kitahara Takashi's lack of skill.

Holding the rice ball with both hands, she took a bite, and Yotsuba froze.

She discovered that hidden inside the rice was a fried dough stick?

Not just that—there seemed to be pork floss, ham, and pickled vegetables too?

Yotsuba's mind raced as she instinctively chewed a couple of times. The next moment, her entire body shivered, and the iconic rabbit-ear-like ribbons on her head stood straight up.

Her eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "This is delicious, Kitahara-kun! What is this?"

The soft, sticky rice wrapped around the warm fried dough stick was crispy yet tender, chewy and glutinous, with an exceptional flavor.

It was even better than a regular rice ball.

Kitahara grinned. "It's good, right?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Yotsuba nodded vigorously.

"It's called cifanbao, also known as steamed rice balls. It's a specialty snack from the Jiangnan region of China. Really tasty."

Kitahara loved eating this.

Steamed rice balls and multigrain pancakes—he could never get tired of these two.

"Try this too."

Kitahara took off the lid of his thermos, poured some soy milk into it, and handed it to her.

This time, Yotsuba didn't refuse.

She held the steamed rice ball in one hand and the still-steaming soy milk in the other, blowing on it gently as the mist drifted away with the breeze.

After a couple of sips, her body warmed up, and the drowsiness from waking up early vanished completely.

"It's so good."

Yotsuba's eyes sparkled, and her pretty lips glistened slightly.

The morning breeze rustled through the trees, carrying the scent of fresh greenery. The intermittent chirping of birds formed a disjointed melody.

Sitting on the bench, Kitahara and Nakano Yotsuba enjoyed their delicious breakfast like an old married couple.

Koharu, squatting on the ground, looked like he was about to cry from envy.

Why are you all eating?

He hadn't had breakfast yet!

"I'm so full, so full."

After finishing breakfast, Yotsuba patted her little belly, looking completely satisfied.

It had been a long time since she had enjoyed a meal this much.

"Let's take a slow jog," Kitahara suggested.

"Okay."

Yotsuba diligently cleaned up the trash and, as usual, started jogging slowly along the artificial lake.

Unconsciously, the sun slowly rose from the horizon.

The tender oak leaves swayed in the wind.

By seven o'clock, the two said their goodbyes and headed home.

...

After taking a shower, Kitahara left the house, took the train, and went to school.

On the train, Kitahara ran into Komi Shouko and Katsura Kotonoha again.

This time, however, he was far away from them, and the people around him were mostly men. Safe from any accusations of harassment.

Holding onto the strap with one hand, Kitahara opened his phone and searched for the pseudonym [Watanabe Takashi]. The page immediately popped up with: [Parents? Not? Home? Feeling? Lonely? Perfect substitute Watanabe Takashi, 24/7 companionship.]

Kitahara's hand holding the phone trembled slightly.

'System, are you there? Care to explain?'

Yesterday, before Shijo Maki left, Kitahara finally found out where she had placed the order.

This damn system had secretly created a mini-program behind his back and was spamming ads everywhere, sending out骚扰短信 (harassment messages).

Shijo Maki had just impulsively clicked and placed an order in the middle of the night.

Of course, that was understandable.

Daytime and nighttime were two different people.

Morning: Hahaha.

Afternoon: Hahaha.

Night: How long until I can enter your heart~

And why did this website look like some shady adult site?

The system's emotionless voice rang out: [Auxiliary function.]

'Your auxiliary function is sending骚扰短信 (harassment messages) in the middle of the night?'

Kitahara couldn't help but laugh at the system's response.

'You can only fool little airheads like Shijo Maki. No sane person would click on that.'

As soon as Kitahara finished speaking—

[Dating Target: Katsura Kotonoha]

[Activity Content: Why did it turn out like this... The first time I had someone I liked; the first time I made a lifelong best friend. These two happy things happened together. And these two joys should have brought me even more happiness. I should have been able to enjoy this dream-like time. But why... did it turn out like this...]

[Activity Time: Arrive at the destination by 4:00 PM on May 10th]

[Meeting Location: RokuTen Shopping Center (Click to start navigation)]

[Crush: Itou Makoto (Click to view details).]

[Activity Reward: 5,000 points]

[Accept?]

—Kitahara glanced at the quiet and elegant Katsura Kotonoha not far away, then looked back at the system pop-up. He fell silent.

'Another little airhead clicked.'